Letter to Chairman Baucus: January 26, 2009

January 26, 2009

The Honorable Max Baucus
Chairman
Committee on Finance
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

RE: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Dear Chairman Baucus:

The National School Boards Association (NSBA), representing more than 95,000 local school board members through state school boards associations across the nation, is writing to convey sincere appreciation and strong support for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Many of our public school districts are facing enormous economic uncertainty with state budget shortfalls, declines in local revenues used for education, potential teacher and personnel lay-offs, and deferrals of school repairs and maintenance, for example. Without the provisions proposed for K-12 education programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the nation’s 14,350 school districts will encounter even greater peril as our communities try to mitigate effects of the recession.

The legislation’s provisions for education are very timely—from the expansion of the Qualified Zone Academy Bond program to the new category of qualified school construction bonds that would provide $10 billion in bond authority for school infrastructure projects in 2009 and 2010. These and other investments proposed in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 are paramount to the success of our nation’s students; and, they would be mutually beneficial to our communities and states to create and sustain thousands of jobs and contracting opportunities.

NSBA greatly appreciates the Committee’s efforts to address the economic crisis and its impact on our students and school districts. We urge Congress’ strong bipartisan support and swift passage of the legislation, and look forward to working with you as the bill moves forward.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Resnick
Associate Executive Director