Washington, D.C. -— U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) voted Wednesday night for legislation that would help renovate and modernize public schools in North Carolina and around the country.
“Local communities in North Carolina are not only struggling to build enough new schools to keep up with growth, they are also struggling to renovate and modernize existing facilities that are desperately in need of repair,” said Etheridge. “This legislation will help communities to provide students with safe, quality facilities where learning can flourish.”
“Our nation must invest in important priorities like school construction if we are going to be competitive in the 21st-century global economy. If we can build schools in Iraq, then we can find a few dollars for schools here at home.”
By a vote of 250 to 164, the House passed H.R. 3021, The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act. The bill provides funding to states and school districts to help ensure that school facilities and learning environments are safe, healthy, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and technologically advanced. The legislation includes $164 million for physical improvement projects for North Carolina’s schools.
Overall, H.R. 3021 would authorize $6.4 billion for school renovation and modernization projects. The bill would also help to provide jobs in the construction industry, which lost 457,000 jobs between September 2006 and April 2008.
Etheridge, the only former state schools chief serving in Congress, is also sponsoring legislation to help North Carolina build new schools. H.R. 2470, The America’s Better Classrooms Act of 2007. The bill will provide a federal tax credit to bond holders to pay the interest on local school bonds. The state or school district would only be responsible for repaying the principal. The bill will provide federal support in partnership with local officials to leverage about $25 billion in bonds for school construction. North Carolina would receive about $488 million under the proposal. Etheridge introduced similar legislation in his first term in Congress a decade ago.