Sponsors (21)
Official title: Provide for the long-term improvement of public school facilities, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 4, 2026 by John F. Reed · Last progress February 4, 2026
The bill directs substantial federal resources and new financing tools toward modernizing and making school facilities safer, greener, and more accessible, but it shifts significant costs, administrative burdens, and matching responsibilities to states and districts while raising federal outlays and risking uneven distribution of benefits.
School districts nationwide can access large new federal funding and financing streams (notably $20B/year FY2027–FY2031 plus revived bond allocations and other program funds) to finance widespread construction, renovation, and safety projects.
Students and school staff in high-need and affected districts will get health-and-safety upgrades (removal/mitigation of lead, PFAS, asbestos, PCBs, radon; improved drinking water and indoor air; targeted repairs for pyrrhotite-damaged schools), improving immediate safety and long-term health outcomes.
More schools — including Title I districts and many Bureau-funded/Tribal contract schools — and more LEAs become explicitly eligible (including via clarified LEA definitions and removing private contribution requirements), expanding access to grants, bond allocations, and program funds.
State and local governments and school districts face significant new matching requirements and cost-sharing (e.g., 10% state match, up to 50% federal cap with additional state matches on special programs), which could force local budget cuts, tax increases, or delay/forgo needed projects.
Federal costs increase (via refundable issuer credits, new authorizations, and program suspensions that shift costs to the federal government), raising deficits or crowding out other federal priorities and potentially increasing taxpayer burden.
States and local districts face substantial administrative, planning, and reporting burdens (state plans, 10-year master plans, public facility inventories, rapid submission timelines, annual Treasury/agency reports), straining staff capacity and increasing compliance costs, especially in small or resource-poor districts.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Establishes FY2027–FY2031 grants and bond authorities to fund school construction, modernization, safety, decarbonization, and toxic‑remediation, reviving tax‑credit bonds and creating school infrastructure bonds.
Provides a five‑year federal program (FY2027–FY2031) to fund long‑term repairs, modernization, safety, energy, and accessibility upgrades for public K–12 school facilities, with formula allocations to States tied to prior Title I funding and small reservations for outlying areas and Bureau‑funded schools. It revives and modifies tax‑credit bond authorities (including qualified zone academy bonds), creates a new school infrastructure bond category, allows broad uses of grant and bond proceeds (construction, retrofits, decarbonization, lead/PFAS testing, accessibility, seismic work, etc.), creates an Office of School Infrastructure and Sustainability at ED, authorizes higher temporary Impact Aid construction funds, requires federal studies on school facility conditions, and establishes a targeted program to repair school foundations damaged by pyrrhotite.