WASHINGTON - October 30 - U.S. Senator Russ Feingold has joined a number of Senate colleagues in writing to Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calling for an increase in Impact Aid. In their letter, the Senators ask that funding for Impact Aid Basic Support Payments be raised from $36.5 million to $46.2 million per year over the next 4 years. Among those affected by Basic Support Payments are children whose parents are in the Armed Services, children who reside on Native American lands, and children who reside in public housing.

“Protecting Impact Aid is vital to the well-being of many communities in Wisconsin and I am pleased to be joining my colleagues in a call to increase this program’s funding,” said Feingold, a member of the Senate Impact Aid coalition.

The Impact Aid program was created to assist local school districts that have lost tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt federal property, or that enroll Native American children, military dependent children or other children associated with federally connected lands. Funding for basic support payments has fallen over the past five years, and money is now being shifted away from needed construction and facility maintenance projects to make up for the shortfall.

The Senators encourage Spellings and Rumsfeld to work with the Department of Education and the Department of Defense to ensure Impact Aid has adequate funding for FY 2008. They also request that schools and communities affected by future changes in the Impact Aid program be fully informed about the timing and movement of students into or out of their districts.

“The Impact Aid program offers critical support to a growing number of children, and federal support for the program should reflect how important these funds are for so many schools and communities,” Feingold said.

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