WATERTOWN â The recently passed bipartisan Fiscal Year 2021 government funding package includes $1.5 billion in funding for the countryâs Impact Aid Program, delivering a $15 million increase from previous years. Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand led a bipartisan letter alongside Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., urging appropriators to prioritize Impact Aid Funding to support more than 1,200 school districts across the country, including those near Fort Drum. Federally impacted school districts educate some of the most vulnerable student populations â including Native American and military connected children â and rely on Impact Aid for resources. As these school districts struggle to respond to the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this continued funding will help alleviate expected state funding cuts and avoid layoffs, provide adequate technology for online learning, and spur economic recovery in their communities.