Moran Supports Military Children's School Investment Act

Floor Speech

Moran Supports Military Children's School Investment Act

Congressman Jerry Moran announced his sponsorship of H.R. 2593, the Military Children's School Investment Act, to help schools in the Fort Riley area accommodate new students resulting from the Fort's growth. The legislation would establish a grant program through the Department of Education for construction, modernization, and repair of public kindergarten, elementary and secondary education facilities affected by Department of Defense (DoD) restructuring activities.

"Now more than ever, especially since the return of the 1st Infantry Division, we need to continue our efforts to provide a good quality of life for soldiers and their families living in Kansas," Moran said. "This legislation will fund construction and expansion of school districts affected by the growth at Fort Riley. It will help ensure that these school districts have the resources they need to serve military students and children of civilian employees."

Across the country, restructuring activities that include Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), Global Rebasing and Army Modularization, are affecting thousands of military students and children of civilian employees who attend aid impacted school districts. These school districts operate with less local revenue than what is available to other districts since the military base property is owned by the federal government and exempt from local property taxes. This legislation will assist these school districts to help provide a quality education to children.

A number of Kansas school districts are experiencing increased enrollments due to growth at Fort Riley including: Abilene- USD 435; Blue Valley/Randolph- USD 384; Centre- USD 397; Chapman- USD 473; Clay County- USD 379; Geary County- USD 475; Herington- USD 487; Manhattan- USD 383; Mill Creek- USD 329; Morris County- USD 417; Riley County- USD 378; Rock Creek- USD 323; Rural Vista- USD 481; Salina- USD 305; Solomon- USD 393; and Wamego- USD 320.

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