CORPS Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1165 To amend the national service laws to prioritize national service programs and projects that are directly related to the response to and recovery from the COVID–19 public health emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. WICKER, Mr. REED, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. KLO- BUCHAR, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. KING, Mr. COR- NYN, Mr. KELLY, Mr. CASSIDY, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Fi- nance A BILL To amend the national service laws to prioritize national service programs and projects that are directly related to the response to and recovery from the COVID–19 public health emergency, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cultivating Oppor- 4 tunity and Recovery from the Pandemic through Service 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘CORPS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1165 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The United States has a strong history of 3 citizen response to national calls to service in order 4 to help the Nation recover in times of crisis. 5 (2) More than 80 years ago, the Nation rose to 6 the challenge of the Great Depression with the cre- 7 ation of citizen service programs like the Civilian 8 Conservation Corps (referred to in this section as 9 the ‘‘CCC’’) and the Works Progress Administration 10 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘WPA’’). 11 (3) Millions of participants benefitted from paid 12 employment and opportunities to develop their skills 13 while constructing national parks and public lands 14 infrastructure and producing cultural works still en- 15 joyed today. 16 (4) Following decades of evolution, incor- 17 porating policies of both political parties, today’s na- 18 tional service programs carry on the legacy of the 19 CCC and WPA. 20 (5) Founded in 1990, the Corporation for Na- 21 tional and Community Service today coordinates na- 22 tional service by individuals in the United States 23 across every State and territory, partnering with 24 State-level commissions and supporting locally driv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1165 IS en services in partnership with nongovernmental or- 1 ganizations and State governments. 2 (6) National service programs provide public 3 health, education, employment training, and nutri- 4 tion services for which the Nation has a critical need 5 in the current crisis. 6 (7) The signature programs of the Corporation 7 for National and Community Service, which are the 8 AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps Na- 9 tional Civilian Community Corps, AmeriCorps Vol- 10 unteers in Service to America (referred to in this 11 Act as ‘‘VISTA’’), and National Senior Service 12 Corps programs, can and should be expanded to 13 meet current needs. 14 (8) The novel coronavirus pandemic has in- 15 fected and killed individuals in every State and terri- 16 tory, causing more than 31,000,000 cases and 17 560,000 deaths so far. 18 (9) In response, States, Tribal governments, 19 and cities across the country have closed down busi- 20 nesses, schools, and public events, leading to dra- 21 matic swings in the economy. 22 (10) Millions of people in the United States 23 have filed for unemployment benefits since the start 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1165 IS of the pandemic, with unemployment rates peaking 1 at an unprecedented level. 2 (11) More than 1 in every 10 adults in the 3 United States has applied for unemployment insur- 4 ance since the crisis began. 5 (12) The pandemic and the associated economic 6 consequences have disproportionately impacted peo- 7 ple of color across many States. 8 (13) To recover, the Nation needs meaningful 9 employment opportunities, as well as a significant 10 expansion of the human capital working to address 11 community needs around public health, behavioral 12 health, hunger, education, and conservation. 13 (14) Experience has demonstrated the cen- 14 trality of community participation in pandemic re- 15 sponse, to overcome stigma and structural barriers 16 and meet the full needs of all members of a diverse 17 community. 18 (15) As the Nation works to respond to and re- 19 cover from the current twin challenges of a public 20 health pandemic and an economic crisis, national 21 service presents a unique opportunity for flexible, lo- 22 cally driven responses to meet State and local em- 23 ployment and recovery needs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1165 IS SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are— 2 (1) to provide for annual growth in the number 3 of participants, over 3 years, in national service pro- 4 grams that will provide services in response to the 5 pandemic and economic crisis; 6 (2) to ensure that participant allowances cover 7 the reasonable cost of participation and provide par- 8 ticipants with economic and educational opportunity; 9 (3) to stabilize such national service programs 10 during economic crisis, including by supporting ad- 11 aptations to service models in light of the crisis; and 12 (4) to support opportunities for all individuals 13 in the United States to engage in service, including 14 through the recruitment of increasingly diverse and 15 representative participants. 16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 17 In this Act: 18 (1) NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE ACT 19 DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘approved national serv- 20 ice position’’, ‘‘Corporation’’, ‘‘disadvantaged 21 youth’’, ‘‘national service laws’’, ‘‘participant’’, 22 ‘‘service sponsor’’, and ‘‘State Commission’’ have the 23 meanings given such terms in section 101 of the Na- 24 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 25 U.S.C. 12511). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1165 IS (2) COVID–19 EMERGENCY RECOVERY PE- 1 RIOD.—The term ‘‘COVID–19 emergency recovery 2 period’’ means the period beginning on the date of 3 enactment of this Act and ending at the end of fiscal 4 year 2024. 5 (3) HIGH-POVERTY AREA.—The term ‘‘high- 6 poverty area’’ means a census tract defined as high- 7 poverty by the Bureau of the Census. 8 SEC. 5. ECONOMIC EQUITY AND OPPORTUNITY. 9 (a) LIVING ALLOWANCE.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 11 105(b) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 12 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4955(b)) and section 140 of the 13 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 14 U.S.C. 12594), during the COVID–19 emergency re- 15 covery period, the minimum subsistence or living al- 16 lowance for an individual under section 105 of the 17 Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 and section 18 140 of the National and Community Service Act of 19 1990 shall, subject to paragraph (3), be an amount 20 equal to 175 percent of the poverty line (as defined 21 in section 673(2) of the Community Services Block 22 Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) for a single indi- 23 vidual as expected for each fiscal year. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1165 IS (2) GRANTS FOR LIVING ALLOWANCE IN- 1 CREASES.—Notwithstanding the limits described in 2 subsections (a) and (e) of section 189 of the Na- 3 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 4 U.S.C. 12645c) or any other limitation imposed by 5 the Corporation, during the COVID–19 emergency 6 recovery period, the Corporation shall, for purposes 7 of paragraph (1), award supplemental grant funds 8 to entities operating a program receiving grant 9 funds under the national service laws (referred to in 10 this paragraph as ‘‘grantees’’), including continuing 11 grantees, to— 12 (A) increase the minimum subsistence or 13 living allowance provided under section 105(b) 14 of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 15 (42 U.S.C. 4955(b)) or section 140 of the Na- 16 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 17 U.S.C. 12594); and 18 (B) cover additional costs associated with 19 the increase to the minimum subsistence or liv- 20 ing allowance required under paragraph (1). 21 (3) LIMITATION.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 23 graph (B), a stipend or allowance under section 24 105 of the Domestic and Volunteer Service Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1165 IS of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4955) or an allowance 1 under section 140 of the National and Commu- 2 nity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12594) 3 shall not be increased by this Act unless the 4 funds appropriated for carrying out part A of 5 the Domestic and Volunteer Service Act of 6 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) or subtitle C of 7 the National and Community Service Act of 8 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.), respectively, 9 are sufficient to maintain, for the fiscal year in- 10 volved, a number of participants to serve under 11 that part A or that subtitle C, respectively, that 12 is at least equal to the number of such partici- 13 pants so serving during the fiscal year pre- 14 ceding such fiscal year involved. 15 (B) ADJUSTMENT FOR INSUFFICIENT AP- 16 PROPRIATIONS.—In the event that sufficient ap- 17 propriations for any fiscal year are not available 18 to increase any stipend or allowance under sec- 19 tion 105 of the Domestic and Volunteer Service 20 Act of 1973 or allowance under section 140 of 21 the National and Community Service Act of 22 1990 to the minimum amount specified under 23 paragraph (1), the Corporation shall increase 24 the stipend or allowance involved to such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1165 IS amount as appropriations for such year permit 1 consistent with subparagraph (A). 2 (b) CONCURRENT COVID–19 EDUCATIONAL 3 AWARD.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall award 5 to any individual who successfully completes a term 6 of service resulting in an educational award under 7 section 147 of the National and Community Service 8 Act (42 U.S.C. 12603), with any part of such term 9 of service occurring within the COVID–19 emer- 10 gency recovery period, a concurrent COVID–19 edu- 11 cational award for an amount described under para- 12 graph (2). 13 (2) AMOUNT OF AWARD.—The concurrent 14 COVID–19 educational award awarded under this 15 subsection shall be in an amount which bears the 16 same proportion to the full amount of the education 17 award the individual received under section 147 of 18 such Act as the length of time of the term of service 19 of such individual that occurs within the COVID–19 20 emergency recovery period bears to the total length 21 of time of the term of service of such individual. 22 (c) NATIONAL SENIOR SERVICE CORPS.—Notwith- 23 standing section 201, subsections (d) and (e) of section 24 211, and section 213(a) of the Domestic Volunteer Service 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1165 IS Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5001, 5011, 5013(a)), to address 1 the critical needs of local communities across the United 2 States, during the COVID–19 pandemic emergency recov- 3 ery period— 4 (1) individuals age 45 or older may be enrolled 5 as volunteers to provide services under part A of 6 title II of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 7 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5001); and 8 (2) for purposes of parts B and C of title II of 9 the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 10 U.S.C. 5002, 5003), the terms ‘‘low-income person’’ 11 and ‘‘person of low income’’ mean a person whose 12 income is not more than 400 percent of the poverty 13 line defined in section 673(2) of the Community 14 Services Block Grant (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) and ad- 15 justed by the Director of the Retired and Senior 16 Volunteer and Foster Grandparent programs in the 17 manner described in such parts. 18 (d) TAX PROVISIONS.— 19 (1) INCOME TAX EXCLUSION FOR LIVING AL- 20 LOWANCE.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter 22 B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 23 1986 is amended by inserting after section 139I 24 the following new section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1165 IS ‘‘SEC. 139J. LIVING ALLOWANCE FOR NATIONAL SERVICE 1 PARTICIPANTS. 2 ‘‘Gross income does not include the amount of any 3 living allowance provided under section 105(b) of the Do- 4 mestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4955(b)) 5 or section 140(a) or 158(b) of the National and Commu- 6 nity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12594(a), 7 12618(b)).’’. 8 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 9 sections for part III of subchapter B of chapter 10 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 11 amended by inserting after the item relating to 12 section 139I the following new item: 13 ‘‘Sec. 139J. Living allowance for national service participants.’’. (C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 14 made by this paragraph shall apply to taxable 15 years beginning after the date of the enactment 16 of this Act. 17 (2) EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME OF NA- 18 TIONAL SERVICE EDUCATIONAL AWARDS.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 117 of the In- 20 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to quali- 21 fied scholarships) is amended by adding at the 22 end the following new subsection: 23 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL SERVICE EDUCATIONAL AWARDS.— 24 Gross income shall not include any payments from the Na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1165.IS S1165 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1165 IS tional Service Trust established under section 145 of the 1 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 2 12601), including the national service educational award 3 described in subtitle D of title I of such Act (42 U.S.C. [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]