S. 2119 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2119 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 12, 2014Mr. Lee introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Head Start Act to authorize block grants to States for prekindergarten education. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Head Start Improvement Act of 2014. 2. Head Start Block grants The Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) is amended— (1) in section 640, by adding at the end the following: (p) Beginning on October 1 of the first fiscal year following the date of enactment of the Head Start Improvement Act of 2014, the Secretary shall not allocate, reserve, or otherwise provide funds pursuant to this section. ; and (2) by inserting after section 640 the following: 640A. Block grants to eligible grantees (a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, beginning on October 1 of the first fiscal year following the date of enactment of the Head Start Improvement Act of 2014, from the amounts appropriated to carry out this subchapter under section 639 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible grantees in accordance with this section. (b) Allotments (1) Eligible grantee defined In this section, the term eligible grantee means each of the 50 States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, and each of the federally recognized Indian tribes. (2) Formula The Secretary shall allot the amount appropriated under section 639 for a fiscal year among the eligible grantees in proportion to the number of children, aged 5 and younger, who reside within the eligible grantee and are from families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line for the most recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data are available, compared to the number of such children who reside in all such eligible grantees for that fiscal year. (c) Use of funds (1) In general An eligible grantee that receives a grant under this section shall use 100 percent of the grant funds— (A) for prekindergarten education programs in the eligible grantee; (B) for the administration of the programs described in subparagraph (A); and (C) to provide direct technical assistance, oversight, monitoring, research, and training with respect to the programs described in subparagraph (A). (2) Certification The Governor, or other chief executive, of each eligible grantee that receives a grant under this section shall certify that all grant funds received under this section will be used to directly or indirectly provide comprehensive education and related services to low-income children and their families. (3) Eligible grantee responsibilities An eligible grantee that receives a grant under this section shall— (A) award subgrants to eligible entities (as defined by the eligible grantee) to enable such entities to provide prekindergarten education programs in the eligible grantee; (B) establish rules and standards for the entities awarded subgrants under subparagraph (A); and (C) monitor compliance by entities awarded subgrants under subparagraph (A). (4) Flexibility Subject to the requirements of this section, an eligible grantee that receives a grant under this section shall have full flexibility to use grant funds to finance a prekindergarten education provider, service, or program, including to establish a portable voucher system. (5) Members of federally recognized indian tribes A member of a federally recognized Indian tribe who is eligible to receive services pursuant to a program funded under this section may elect to receive such services from any eligible entity in the eligible grantee in which the member resides. (d) Matching funds An eligible grantee that receives a grant under this section shall provide matching funds from non-Federal sources equal to 20 percent of the amount of the grant to carry out the activities described in this section. .