WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Dan Boren introduced legislation today, H.R. 3651 the Impact Aid Fairness and Equity Act of 2009, to improve the existing federal Impact Aid Program to provide fair compensation to “federally impacted” school districts in Oklahoma.

The Impact Aid Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, provides financial compensation to school districts that are adversely affected by the loss of tax revenue caused by federal ownership of land or the enrollment of children whose parents work or live on federal land.  These federally impacted school districts rely heavily on funding from the program.  Boren’s legislation improves the existing program to ensure the equitable apportionment of funding to impacted school districts.

“I am honored to author and introduce this legislation.  Many school districts in Oklahoma and my congressional district rely on the Impact Aid Program to provide sufficient funding.  As Congress turns its attention to reauthorizing the current Impact Aid law, I look forward to advancing the reform provisions in this bill to restore fairness and equity to the Impact Aid Program,” Congressman Boren said.

One-hundred and fifty-seven federally impacted school districts, otherwise known as local education agencies (LEAs), in Oklahoma’s Second Congressional District are members of the National Council for Impacted Schools – an organization representing almost 300 Oklahoma schools along with other federally impacted schools nationwide.

Currently, the program lacks the capacity to equitably compensate all federally impacted schools in Oklahoma and across the nation. As a result, most of these limited resources are apportioned by formula, and in many cases school districts receive insufficient funding to meet their needs.  For example, in fiscal year 2009 the basic support payments for school districts in eastern Oklahoma totaled approximately $16 million.  If the Impact Aid Program was fully-funded, these school districts they would receive a total of $35 million.

The Impact Aid Fairness and Equity Act would guarantee that all impacted school districts receive a fair basic support payment. It would require that school districts receive payments that are equal to 100 percent of their learning opportunity threshold when funds allow. If extra funding remains, these resources will be distributed equally among all school districts that have not yet received their maximum basic support payment.  In addition, a permanent “foundation payment” will be set to ensure that no school is adversely affected by the revised formula.

The legislation will also make all school districts that qualify for Impact Aid assistance eligible for funding from the construction portion of the program.  Under current law, construction funding is distributed by formula and competitive grants.

Boren’s bill would instead require these funds to be provided on a competitive basis only. Construction projects that address health and safety issues, make emergency repairs, and have a local bonding capacity would be given priority for competitive grant awards. Grant funding would be limited to half of a project’s total cost and the total amount of construction funding for which a school district can receive during a four-year period will be capped at $4 million.

To simplify the Impact Aid federal property program, the legislation sets a cap on the amount of funding that a school district can receive based on a student count and the amount of property taxes it collects. Under current law, the Impact Aid Program uses a tiered structure to determine the amount of funding a school district can receive. Finally, the bill establishes an equal reduction in payments to all school districts when annual appropriations are insufficient.