Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 3616 - Impact Aid Reauthorization Act of 2000

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(House)

(Rep. Hayes (R) NC and 71 others)

The Administration does not object to House passage of H.R. 3616, but will work with the Senate to address several objectionable features of the bill, including its failure to include key elements of the President's proposal for reauthorizing the Impact Aid program. This program provides assistance to school districts that are financially burdened by the presence of Federal property or Federal activities within their jurisdictions.

The Administration is concerned that H.R. 3616:

• Fails to include the President's proposal to make the formula for payments on behalf of federally connected children (e.g., children from families living and working on nontaxable Federal property) more equitable among districts by more accurately reflecting the current costs of educating those children.

• Continues to authorize payments for a category of federally connected children (so-called "b" children), whose parents either live or work on Federal property, even though they impose little burden on communities relative to other federally connected children.

• Uses past payment amounts and other extraneous factors in the formulas for allocating payments for Federal property and for federally connected children. All available funds should be distributed based on objective data that measure the level of current need within a school district, not past need.

• Allows some school districts to treat children who live on taxable property that was once Federal property as if they still lived on Federal property.

• Contains an inequitable and complex system for making payments to the small number of school districts identified as the most heavily affected by Federal activities.

• Further dilutes the effect of the school construction portion of the Impact Aid program by expanding the number of eligible districts and failing to target limited funds to the neediest areas.