GOP Weighs In With Proposals On Construction

By Joetta L. Sack

Washington

With members of Congress from both parties lining up behind various proposals on aid for school construction, the big question this year may not be whether, but how, the federal government will tread into this new territory.

In addition to President Clinton's $3.7 billion, five-year construction and renovation measure, which he has promoted and slightly expanded in the three most recent Department of Education budget proposals, several Republican and Democratic plans are now being floated in Congress. Among them is a $1.4 billion approach by House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, that would amend the tax code to cut costs associated with issuing school bonds for districts and states.

Already, congressional lawmakers have introduced 11 legislative initiatives on the issue. And while such plans have failed in the past, Democrats and education groups--traditionally the strongest boosters of construction aid--believe this is the year that at least one school construction bill will finally pass. Such an outcome would build on the White House's successes in lobbying for funding for new teachers and other school initiatives in...