[House Report 112-45]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 112-45
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PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 471) TO REAUTHORIZE THE
DC OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
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March 29, 2011.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
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Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Rules,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 186]
The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration
House Resolution 186, by a record vote of 7 to 2, report the
same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution
be adopted.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION
The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 471, the
Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act, under a
structured rule. The resolution provides for one hour of debate
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform. The resolution waives all points of order against
consideration of the bill. The resolution provides that the
amendment recommended by the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform now printed in the bill shall be considered
as adopted. The resolution provides that the bill, as amended,
shall be considered as read. The resolution waives all points
of order against provisions in the bill, as amended. The
resolution makes in order the amendment printed in this report,
if offered by Delegate Norton of the District of Columbia or
her designee, which shall be considered as read, and shall be
debatable for 40 minutes equally divided and controlled by the
proponent and an opponent. The resolution waives all points of
order against the amendment printed in this report. Finally,
the resolution provides one motion to recommit with or without
instructions.
EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS
Although the resolution waives all points of order against
consideration of the bill, the Committee is not aware of any
points of order against consideration. The waiver of all points
of order against consideration is prophylactic.
The resolution waives of all points of order against
provisions in the bill, as amended. The waiver of all points of
order includes a waiver of clause 5(a) of rule XXI, which
prohibits a bill carrying a tax provision from being reported
by a committee that does not have jurisdiction to report tax
measures. A provision in H.R. 471, as amended, states, ``The
amount of any scholarship (or other form of support provided to
parents of an eligible student) under this Act shall not be
treated as income of the parents for purposes of Federal tax
laws or for determining eligibility for any other Federal
program.'' This is a tax provision and the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform does not have jurisdiction to
report tax measures, thus a waiver of clause 5(a) of rule XXI
is necessary.
Although the resolution waives all points of order against
the amendment printed in this report, the Committee is not
aware of any points of order against the amendment and
therefore it is prophylactic in nature.
COMMITTEE VOTES
The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion
to report, together with the names of those voting for and
against, are printed below:
Rules Committee record vote No. 56
Motion by Mr. McGovern to report an open rule. Defeated: 2-
7.
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Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
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Ms. Foxx........................................ Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Bishop of Utah.............................. Nay Mr. Polis......................... Yea
Mr. Woodall..................................... Nay
Mr. Nugent...................................... Nay
Mr. Scott of South Carolina..................... Nay
Mr. Webster..................................... Nay
Mr. Dreier, Chairman............................ Nay
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Rules Committee record vote No. 57
Motion by Ms. Foxx to report the rule. Adopted: 7-2.
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Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
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Ms. Foxx........................................ Yea Mr. McGovern...................... Nay
Mr. Bishop of Utah.............................. Yea Mr. Polis......................... Nay
Mr. Woodall..................................... Yea
Mr. Nugent...................................... Yea
Mr. Scott of South Carolina..................... Yea
Mr. Webster..................................... Yea
Mr. Dreier, Chairman............................ Yea
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SUMMARY OF AMENDMENT MADE IN ORDER
Norton (DC): Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute that
would redirect the religious and other private school voucher
funding to District of Columbia public schools and District of
Columbia public charter schools. (40 minutes)
TEXT OF AMENDMENT MADE IN ORDER
An Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute To Be Offered by
Representative Eleanor Norton of the District of Columbia or Her
Designee, Debatable for 40 Minutes
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Funds for Public
Education Act''.
SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND DC PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.
(a) General Authority.--From the funds appropriated under
section 4, the Secretary of Education (in this Act referred to
as the ``Secretary'') shall provide funds to the Mayor of the
District of Columbia (in this Act referred to as the
``Mayor''), if the Mayor agrees to the requirements described
in subsection (b), for--
(1) the District of Columbia public schools to
improve public education in the District of Columbia;
and
(2) the District of Columbia public charter schools
to improve and expand quality public charter schools in
the District of Columbia.
(b) Condition of Receipt of Funds.--As a condition of
receiving funds under this Act on behalf of the District of
Columbia public schools and the District of Columbia public
charter schools, the Mayor shall agree to carry out the
following:
(1) Agreement with the secretary.--Enter into an
agreement with the Secretary to monitor and evaluate
the use of funds authorized and appropriated for the
District of Columbia public schools and the District of
Columbia public charter schools under this Act.
(2) Information requests.--Ensure that all District
of Columbia public schools and the District of Columbia
public charter schools comply with all reasonable
requests for information for purposes of the evaluation
described in paragraph (1).
(3) Submission of report.--Not later than 6 months
after the first appropriation of funds under section 4,
and each succeeding year thereafter, submit to the
Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Education
and the Workforce, and the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and
the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
of the Senate, information on--
(A) how the funds authorized and appropriated
under this Act for the District of Columbia
public schools and the District of Columbia
public charter schools were used in the
preceding school year; and
(B) how such funds are contributing to
student achievement.
(4) Public availability.--Ensure that all reports and
underlying data gathered pursuant to this subsection
shall be made available to the public upon request, in
a timely manner following submission of the applicable
report under paragraph (3), except that personally
identifiable information shall not be disclosed or made
available to the public.
(c) Enforcement.--If, after reasonable notice and an
opportunity for a hearing for the Mayor, the Secretary
determines that the Mayor has not been in compliance with 1 or
more of the requirements described in subsection (b), the
Secretary may withhold from the Mayor, in whole or in part,
further funds under this Act for the District of Columbia
public schools and the District of Columbia public charter
schools.
SEC. 3. PRIORITY CONSIDERATION FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS.
Each District of Columbia public charter school, in selecting
new students for admission to the school, shall give priority
to students who were provided notification of selection for an
opportunity scholarship under the DC School Choice Incentive
Act of 2003 (sec. 38-1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) for
the 2009-2010 school year, but whose scholarship was later
rescinded in accordance with direction from the Secretary of
Education.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for
fiscal year 2012 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of
which--
(1) 50 percent shall be made available to carry out
paragraph (1) of section 2(a) for each fiscal year; and
(2) 50 percent shall be made available to carry out
paragraph (2) of section 2(a) for each fiscal year.