Copyright 2000 The Omaha World-Herald Company
Omaha
World-Herald
October 15, 2000, Sunday SUNRISE EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 16A;
LENGTH: 1241 words
HEADLINE:
Bill's Impact-Aid Provision Will Help Bellevue School District
BYLINE: MATT KELLEY
SOURCE:
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
DATELINE: Washington
BODY:
A defense authorization bill approved last
week by Congress would speed up and smooth out federal payments for schools
financially impacted by military bases and Indian reservations, according to
officials with Bellevue Public Schools.
John Deegan, the schools
superintendent in Bellevue, said changes made by the legislation also would
protect his district from potential revenue losses due to privatization of
military housing at Offutt Air Force Base.
"It's a very good thing,"
Deegan said.
Bellevue Schools received about $ 12 million, about 20
percent of this year's budget, from federal "impact aid" payments - funds
designed to assist schools that lose local tax revenue to the presence of large
military installations or Indian lands. In the past, Deegan said, those funds
have been slow to arrive because the U.S. Department of Education has required
volumes of financial data from virtually all federally impacted school districts
before releasing impact aid funds to any school. Deegan said that often meant
Bellevue would be left to wait until schools half a nation away had completed
their work.
"You're only as strong as your weakest link," he said.
Under the new procedures, federal officials will calculate impact aid
payments based on a formula that won't require all schools to report before any
money is released.
Other changes in the program would double the federal
contribution for students who live off military bases. Currently, districts
receive about $ 200 per year for students from military families who live off
base, compared with about $ 1,000 for on-base students, Deegan said.
Under the bill passed last week, the off-base compensation would double
to $ 400. In Bellevue, that means an extra $ 500,000 in federal income, Deegan
said.
Another change made by the bill would allow Bellevue and other
districts to continue counting children as on-base students even if their
federally owned housing is leased to private contractors. Such a move is being
contemplated at Offutt through a military-wide privatization process designed to
save money.
On another front, Deegan said, congressional appropriators
in the House and Senate seem to have settled on spending about $ 1 billion on
impact aid payments in FY 2001. That's up from the $ 906.5 million appropriated
this year.
Final decisions on that funding will be made later this month
as Congress finishes work on its education appropriation bill, one of 13 annual
spending bills.
The impact aid authorizing language was included within
a $ 309.9 billion FY 2001 defense authorization bill, which passed the House
382-31 and the Senate 90-3. Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; Charles Grassley, R-Iowa;
and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, voted for the authorization bill, along with Reps. Greg
Ganske, R-Iowa; Tom Latham, R-Iowa; Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa; Doug Bereuter,
R-Neb.; Lee Terry, R-Neb.; and Bill Barrett, R-Neb.
Sen. Bob Kerrey,
D-Neb., voted against the authorization measure after voicing strong objections
to a veterans health provision he called too expensive. The measure would allow
1.3 million military retirees who reach age 65 to keep their special health-care
system rather than move to Medicare.
Kerrey, a veteran who was badly
wounded in Vietnam, said the program amounted to another entitlement for older
people at the expense of younger taxpayers, many of whom don't have insurance of
their own.
In other votes last week:
Senate Votes
Sex
Trafficking
Approved: 95-0, a package of measures to crack down on sex
and slave trafficking, including $ 95 million in authorized funding over the
next two years. The measure also reauthorizes the federal Violence Against Women
Act at $ 3.4 billion over the next five years.
All four senators from
Iowa and Nebraska voted for the measure.
Legislative Spending
Approved: 58-37, a bill funding Congress and various agencies that
support Congress such as the Library of Congress and the Congressional Budget
Office. The measure also included a repeal of a three percent telephone
tax enacted during the Spanish-American war.
For: Hagel, Kerrey
and Grassley
Against: Harkin.
Bulletproof Vests
Approved: by voice vote, legislation boosting federal support for local
law enforcement agencies to buy bulletproof vests and other types of body armor.
The bill authorizes $ 50 million for a federal grant program over the next four
years.
Water Pollution
Approved: by voice vote, a measure
authorizing about $ 750 million for programs to clean up polluted water. The
measure includes authorization for cleanup of pollution due to agricultural
runoff.
House Votes
Agriculture Spending
Approved:
340-75, a $ 78.1 billion conference report funding USDA and various farm
programs. The measure includes $ 3.5 billion in emergency aid for farmers and
livestock producers who suffered this year from drought and diseases. The
measure will come up for a vote in the Senate this week.
All six House
members from Nebraska and western Iowa voted for the bill.
Veto Override
Approved: 315-98, an energy and water appropriations bill vetoed by
President Clinton due to a provision related to water flows along the Missouri
River. Because the override could not be sustained in the Senate, leaders
removed the provision that drew Clinton's veto. The provision would have barred
implementation of a water flow program designed to assist endangered species. It
was opposed by most Midlands lawmakers who say it would boost the risk of
flooding and strangle barge traffic during the summer. Those voting for the plan
and against the veto override, including Kerrey and Harkin, dispute those
claims.
All six House members from Nebraska and western Iowa voted for
the bill.
Bankruptcy
Approved: by voice vote, a measure
revamping the nation's bankruptcy laws. The measure, which would require a means
test for those declaring bankruptcy, faces a veto threat from President Clinton.
Federal Workers
Approved: 382-50, a measure allowing federal
employees to contribute to tax-deferred saving programs sponsored by the
government immediately upon being hired rather than waiting six months.
All six House members from Nebraska and western Iowa voted for the bill.
Lupus
Approved: 385-2, a measure authorizing an unspecified
amount to intensify research on lupus, a disease that affects the immune system.
All six House members from Nebraska and western Iowa voted for the bill.
Indian Languages
Approved: by voice vote, legislation creating a
grant program for schools teaching native languages to American Indians.
Yugoslavia
Approved: by voice vote, a resolution congratulating
the people of Yugoslavia on their revolution and overthrow of former leader
Slobodan Milosevic.
Democracy Building
Approved: by voice vote,
three resolutions aimed at calling attention to democracy and freedom in three
far-flung nations. The nonbinding legislation called for peace in Kosovo and the
release of an imprisoned American businessman in Russia, while also voicing
support for free elections in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Get
Along Lil' Doggies
Approved: by voice vote, legislation allowing law
enforcement officers and other capable handlers to adopt military police dogs
once they are retired. Currently, the military dogs must be euthanized.
LOAD-DATE: October 16, 2000
