HR 4090 IH
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4090
To authorize appropriations for the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act to achieve full funding in fiscal year 2001 and fiscal year 2002,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2000
Mr. VITTER (for himself, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr.
MORAN of Kansas, Mr. HILLIARD, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To authorize appropriations for the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act to achieve full funding in fiscal year 2001 and fiscal year 2002,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `IDEA Keeping Our Commitment Act of 2000'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1975, Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children
Act of 1975 (enacted as Public Law 94-142), now known as the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), which established
a Federal commitment to provide schools with 40 percent of the national
average per pupil expenditure for the purpose of educating children with
disabilities.
(2) To date, the Federal Government has never contributed more than 12.6
percent of the maximum State grant allocation for educating children with
disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
(3) The failure by the Federal Government to fully fund the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act has forced State and local governments to
divert funding from other worthy projects, including school construction and
hiring additional teachers, in order to pay for the full costs of educating
children with disabilities.
(4) Each year, State and local educational agencies are forced to spend
precious resources to simply comply with numerous reporting requirements
called for under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
(5) Although Congress has increased Federal funding for special
education by 85 percent since 1995, the failure by the Federal Government to
fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act constitutes a de
facto unfunded Federal mandate on the States.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to reach the Federal Government's goal of
providing 40 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure for the
purpose of educating all children with disabilities in fiscal year 2001 and
fiscal year 2002.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.
Section 611(j) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20
U.S.C. 1411(j)) is amended to read as follows:
`(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- For the purpose of carrying out this
part, other than section 619, there are authorized to be appropriated--
`(1) $16,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2001; and
`(2) $17,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.'.
END