Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this summer, Senator Smith and I introduced the Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act. If enacted, this bill would provide much needed relief to school districts participating in the Impact Aid Program. And given the many other strains they are feeling due to the ongoing pandemic, it can't come soon enough.

By way of background, public school districts on military installations, Tribal land, and other Federal public property, or with students living on these Federal properties, can participate in the Impact Aid Program, which includes nearly 40 school districts in the State of South Dakota.

This program is of vital importance to the financial well-being of these schools, as it reimburses them for revenue shortfalls due to the reduction or absence of a local tax base because of the presence of Federal property

In order to determine grant awards through this program, school districts must annually calculate the number of federally connected students that they have enrolled. While generally a prudent exercise, during a pandemic, conducting this type of count has presented a new set of challenges for administrators.

The Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act is a commonsense, bipartisan approach that would not cost a dime yet would provide financial stability to school districts by allowing them to use last year's student headcounts on impact aid applications that they are completing this fall. Doing so would prevent the reporting of noticeable, but likely temporary, declines in student enrollment, which would lead to student reduced impact aid payments next year.

Distance learning has made collecting student data more challenging as well. Districts are also experiencing declines in student headcount due to parents choosing to temporarily homeschool their children during the pandemic.

Unless Congress allows these school districts to use last year's student headcounts on this year's impact aid applications, schools will have the undue burden of collecting this data during an otherwise challenging time and could very well experience a reduced impact aid payment next fall. Our legislation will ensure that they have certainty in the near term.

A companion of our bill passed the House by unanimous consent on October 2, and impact aid school districts are eager for the Senate to do the same. I hope we can get that done today.

I yield to the Senator from Minnesota for some comments.

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Mr. THUNE. I thank the Senator from Minnesota.

8472, which was received from the House.
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