February 13, 2026
Mr. Bell (for himself and Ms. Kelly of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow certain advance refunding bonds for public school districts to be tax-exempt.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Reinvest in Public Schools Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Certain advance refunding bonds for public school districts made tax-exempt
(a) In general
Section 149(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1), by striking Nothing
and inserting Except as provided in paragraph (4), nothing
, and
(2)
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(4) Special rule for bonds for certain public school bonds
(A) In general
In the case of a bond that is—
(i)
issued by a state or local government,
(ii)
not described in subparagraph (B), and
(iii)
100 percent of the available project proceeds are used for—
(I)
the construction, rehabilitation, or repair of a public school facility, or
(II)
the acquisition of land on which the bond-financed facility is to be constructed,
this subsection shall be applied as this subsection was in effect on December 21, 2017.
(B) Abusive transactions prohibited
An issue is described in this subparagraph if any bond (issued as part of such issue) is issued to advance refund another bond and a device is employed in connection with the issuance of such issue to obtain a material financial advantage (based on arbitrage) apart from savings attributable to lower interest rates.
(b) Determination of initial temporary period
Section 148(f)(4)(C) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new clause:
(xviii) Special rule for qualified school construction bonds
In the case of a bond described in section 149(d)(4)(A), for purposes of this subparagraph, the end of the initial temporary period shall be determined without regard to section 149(d)(3)(A)(iv) (as in effect on December 21, 2017).
(c) Effective date
The amendments made by this section shall apply to advance refunding bonds issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.