Letter to House Leadership: September 26, 2008

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker U.S. House of Representatives H-232 U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515	The Honorable Steny H. Hoyer     Majority Leader     U.S. House of Representatives     H-107 U.S. Capitol     Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable James Clyburn Majority Whip U.S. House of Representatives H-329 U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515	The Honorable David Obey     Chairman, Committee on Appropriations     U.S. House of Representatives     H-218 U.S. Capitol     Washington, DC 20515

Re:     H.R. 7110 - Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Majority Whip Clyburn, and Chairman Obey:

The National School Boards Association (NSBA), representing more than 95,000 local school board members through state school boards associations across the nation, strongly supports your leadership and efforts to assist our public schools as part of the Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008 (H.R. 7110). As you prepare for a floor vote, NSBA urges you to ensure that the following priorities are included in the final bill:

School Infrastructure Repairs and Modernization. NSBA applauds the inclusion of $3 billion for school infrastructure repairs and modernization, pursuant to the “21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act” (H.R. 3021). This funding would help advance student achievement, provide contracting opportunities for businesses, and create more than 32,000 jobs throughout the country. This source of federal assistance would be very timely, given the national economy and fiscal conditions of 29+ states that have faced budget shortfalls of at least $48 billion.

Demands of today’s educational programs and services have overwhelmed the structural capacity of many school facilities across the nation. As you are aware, approximately three million students attend public schools that require major renovation or replacement. Local school districts are delaying priority school infrastructure projects as they struggle to secure local and state financing, amid budget shortfalls and increased expenditures for transportation, utilities, school meals and homeless assistance to students affected by the national housing crisis, for example.

Secure Rural Schools. NSBA urges you to restore funding of $400 million for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. Approximately 4,400 school districts lost a vital source of funding for teachers, personnel and operations when funding for the Secure Rural Schools program ended in June. In fact, this loss is affecting nearly 7,000 teachers and personnel.

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Program. NSBA also urges your full support for students impacted by the national foreclosure crisis. As you are aware, more than 1.8 million students are affected by the housing crisis. Additional funding of $36 million is needed for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance program, which helps school districts fulfill critical needs including tutoring, school supplies, and counseling.

Congress has already authorized additional funding for this program. Therefore, the $36 million would cover the gap between the FY 2008 funding level of $64 million and the $100 million authorization that was enacted in the recent Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221).

Implementation of recently adopted Federal 403(b) Regulations. (IRS Revenue Procedure 2007-71)  An exemption is needed for a number of school districts. New requirements mandated by the recently adopted Federal 403(b) regulations should be mitigated, as they are costly and burdensome to publicly-funded schools. If this is unobtainable, at the very minimum, the starting date for these requirements should be delayed until the start of the fiscal year for school systems– July 1, 2009.

The new Federal 403(b) regulations are imposing significant fiscal and staffing burdens on a number of small school systems throughout the country. The IRS, as well as various vendors and associations, has prepared sample documents for school systems to implement these dramatic changes; but no funding has been provided for this federal mandate. Many school systems do not have legal counsel on staff to oversee implementation; and, the cost for legal services can be exorbitant as a growing number of school systems struggle to close budget shortfalls.

The potential for errors is a major concern as is the creation of new school system liabilities. Additional concerns are the staff time and expertise required to provide appropriate oversight and implementation. In these tight financial times, costs may have to be paid by the employees, therefore reducing their savings by this amount.

The alternative requested is a deferred implementation until the start of school districts’ 2009-10 fiscal year.

NSBA greatly appreciates your recognition of the urgency to provide assistance to our nation’s students, schools and communities. Such actions will help local school districts to continue to improve the quality of educational services to all students and enable them to better compete in the global market. Questions concerning our request should be directed to Deborah Rigsby, director of federal legislation at 703-838-6208, or by e-mail at drigsby@nsba.org.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Resnick
Associate Executive Director

cc:    Members, U.S. House of Representatives