Noem: Bill Will Help Federally Impacted School Districts

Press Release

Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) today announced she has introduced a bipartisan bill to streamline and modernize the program which helps level the playing field for many South Dakota school districts with large amounts of federally impacted land including military bases, Indian lands, and federal property.

Noem partnered with Rep. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to author The Local Taxpayer Relief Act of 2011 (H.R. 1342). The legislation reauthorizes the Federal Impact Aid Program and improves it by increasing efficiency, eliminating subjectivity, and providing greater flexibility to school districts. The bill has been endorsed by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools.

"South Dakota has a lot of federally impacted land, with Ellsworth Air Force Base, nine Indian Reservations, and other federal lands. This means fewer local property tax dollars for school districts. I'm pleased to join Rep. Hirono in crafting a bill to help ensure every school district has the resources they need to educate our kids without unfairly burdening certain local taxpayers with more than their fair share simply because they live in a school district which hosts a large amount of federally impacted land," said Noem.

Noem also noted that the legislation strengthens the Impact Aid program without increasing government spending.

"Without the Impact Aid Program, taxes would be unreasonably high in school districts with federally impacted land. This bipartisan bill improves the program's flexibility and makes it more efficient without increasing government spending," said Noem.

Impact Aid helps local taxpayers by reimbursing school districts for the costs of hosting federal property and educating federally connected children. Together, over 1,300 of these impacted school districts educate more than 12 million children across the country.

Noem and Hirono are both members of the House Education and Workforce Committee, where the bill will be considered.

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