01.30.19

By:  Emily Wilkins
Source: Bloomberg Law

Democrats Push $100 Billion for School Infrastructure Fixes

Public schools serving low-income students could see a $100 billion boost in funding for buildings and technology infrastructure via legislation introduced by Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate.

The bill (H.R. 865) would target K-12 schools that have difficulty raising additional funds and have severe issues with their buildings. About half of schools said they needed repairs, renovations or modernization for the buildings to be in good condition, the National Center for Educational Statistics reported in 2014.

The bill seeks to make up for “decades of under investment and neglect,” House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said.

Photo - Bryan Mitchell/Bloomberg
Congressional Democrats are proposing boosting funding for repair and construction of elementary and secondary schools that serve low-income students.

“Students and educators across the country go to school every day in crumbling buildings that are either unsafe, not equipped with essential resources, or both,” Scott said at an event to introduce the bill.

Infrastructure is a a top priority for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Scott said any such package needed to include funding for schools. While Democrats see infrastructure as an issue that can gain bipartisan support, most Republican lawmakers say states and localities should be responsible for financing the upkeep of school buildings. When Scott introduced a similar bill in 2017, it failed to attract any Republican co-sponsors.

That could change this Congress, said Jack Reed, (D-R.I.), who introduced a similar bill in the Senate (S. 266). So far, all of Reed’s 18 co-sponsors are all Democrats and independents, but Reed said he is hoping others come forward to sponsor. 

Job Creator?

“We’re getting a good response because this issue permeates the entire country,” Reed said, adding that he and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to invest in public school infrastructure.

The bill would use discretionary funding to create a $70 billion grant program and a $30 billion tax credit bond program targeting school issues posing health and safety risks. The funding would last throughout the next decade.

Lawmakers said the bill would also create an estimated 1.9 million jobs, according to a 2016 analysis by left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute, based on how many jobs are generated with every $1 billion spent on infrastructure.

School infrastructure will also be topic of one of the first hearings the House Education and Labor committee, Scott announced at a hearing Tuesday.