Equitable Access to School Facilities Act
Key claim: HR7086 replaces the Charter Schools Program’s State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grant program with a new competitive grant program and expands allowable uses of State Entities program funds to include facility location assistance and building-code compliance.
Abstract
(HR7086 · 119th Congress) Equitable Access to School Facilities Act This bill expands and revises certain grant programs under the Charter Schools Program (CSP). Currently, the CSP’s State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grant (SFIG) program provides competitive grants to help states establish and enhance or administer per-pupil facilities aid for charter schools. The bill replaces the SFIG program with a new grant program, which requires the Department of Education to (1) award competitive grants to state entities with the highest-quality applications for paying the federal share of acquiring and maintaining charter school facilities; and (2) give priority to certain state entities, such as those located in a state that has tax-exempt financing for charter schools. Further, the bill outlines program requirements (e.g., cost-sharing) and allowable uses of grants. Currently, the CSP’s State Entities (SE) program authorizes competitive grants to state entities and, through them, subgrants to eligible applicants to enable them to open and prepare for the operation of a new charter school or replicate or expand a charter school. The bill revises the SE program by allowing grants to be used for (1) providing assistance to charter schools with locating and accessing a facility, and (2) providing one-time assistance to ensure the facility complies with building codes. Further, state entities may reserve up to 10% of grant funds for a revolving loan fund. The bill (1) specifies that no funds made available under the CSP create a federal interest in associated property, and (2) revises reporting requirements for the CSP’s Credit Enhancement grants. Latest action (2026-06-02): Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 586.
Why this matters
For charter school authorizers and operators, HR7086 restructures the primary federal facilities funding stream by swapping the incumbent SFIG program for a new competitive grant and broadening what State Entities grantees can spend on—now including help finding sites and meeting building codes. The changes are incremental rather than transformative, but they shift which states and operators are best positioned to compete for federal facilities support and how those dollars can be deployed.