Kaine Cosponsors Bill to Improve Public School Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, cosponsored the Rebuild America’s Schools Act, bicameral legislation lead by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA-3) to improve public school infrastructure. The bill would help ensure school facilities are safe, healthy, and sustainable and offer positive learning environments for all students. School infrastructure projects made possible by the bill would create over two million jobs nationwide.

“Our students and educators deserve the safe, healthy, and up-to-date learning environments they need to succeed,” said Senator Kaine. “This bill will help make much-needed infrastructure upgrades to schools in Virginia while boosting our economy and creating millions of jobs.”

Specifically, the Rebuild America’s Schools Act would:

• Establish a federal-state partnership to provide funding for physical and digital infrastructure upgrades at public schools, including broadband expansion,
• Prioritize projects at schools in low-income communities and those with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff, and
• Develop a comprehensive national database on the condition of public school facilities to provide much-needed insight into the condition of our public schools.

Kaine has long supported efforts to improve school infrastructure across the Commonwealth. Last year, he introduced the School Infrastructure Modernization Act, legislation to help modernize aging schools in Virginia and across the country by making it easier for school districts to use the current federal historic rehabilitation tax credit (HTC) to upgrade historic school buildings that will continue to operate as schools after renovation. Recently, Kaine joined U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in Portsmouth to discuss federal funding Virginia received to improve school infrastructure.  

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