Congresswoman Elaine Luria (D-VA-02) has cosponsored the Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act (H.R. 8075), legislation that would eliminate barriers that could prevent school districts in communities with military bases from receiving appropriate Impact Aid funding.
“As a 20-year Navy veteran and a mother, I know how important it is to ensure that our servicemembers’ children can receive a quality public education,” Luria said. “Many of these children attend school in districts that receive significant Impact Aid funding, and we must make sure these districts receive the funding they deserve. I am pleased to support this bipartisan bill to protect these school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Impact Aid program reimburses school districts that contain a high proportion of land removed from local tax rolls, including military bases and tribal lands. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many school districts fear that they could lose funding because of the complexity of receiving an accurate student headcount.
The Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act would remedy this problem by allowing school districts to use their headcount from the 2020-2021 school year for their 2021-2022 Impact Aid application. This simple solution would ensure that an undercount in students will not cause school districts to see a decrease in Impact Aid.