ACTION for National Service Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 994 To establish a National and Community Service Administration to carry out the national and volunteer service programs, to expand participation in such programs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 2, 2019 Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Finance A BILL To establish a National and Community Service Administra- tion to carry out the national and volunteer service pro- grams, to expand participation in such programs, 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 ‘‘America’s Call To Im- 4 prove Opportunities Now for National Service Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘ACTION for National Service Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 994 IS SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS; REFERENCES. 1 (a) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 2 this Act is as follows: 3 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents; references. Sec. 3. Establishment of National and Community Service Administration. Sec. 4. Advisory Board. Sec. 5. Director. Sec. 6. National service educational awards. Sec. 7. Interagency working group. Sec. 8. National Service Foundation. Sec. 9. 21st Century American service outreach program. Sec. 10. Living allowance amounts. Sec. 11. Authorized benefits for Corps members. Sec. 12. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 13. Exclusion from gross income of national service educational awards. Sec. 14. Income tax exclusion for living allowance. Sec. 15. Conforming amendments to the National and Community Service Act of 1990. Sec. 16. Conforming amendments to the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973. (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 4 provided in this Act, wherever in this Act an amendment 5 or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or 6 repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall 7 be considered to be made to that section or other provision 8 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 9 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.). 10 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY 11 SERVICE ADMINISTRATION. 12 Section 191 (42 U.S.C. 12651) is amended— 13 (1) by striking ‘‘a Corporation for National and 14 Community Service’’ and inserting ‘‘the National 15 and Community Service Administration, an inde- 16 pendent agency in the executive branch,’’; and 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 994 IS (2) by striking ‘‘The Corporation shall be a 1 Government corporation, as defined in section 103’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘The Administration shall have the 3 same status as an executive department listed in sec- 4 tion 101’’. 5 SEC. 4. ADVISORY BOARD. 6 (a) APPOINTMENT AND TERMS.—Section 192 (42 7 U.S.C. 12651a) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a)— 9 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert- 10 ing the following: 11 ‘‘(1) ADVISORY BOARD.— 12 ‘‘(A) INITIAL BOARD MEMBERS.— 13 ‘‘(i) BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERS 14 ELECTING TO SERVE.—There shall be in 15 the Administration an Advisory Board ini- 16 tially composed of the voting members of 17 the Board of Directors of the Corporation 18 for National and Community Service (as in 19 existence the day before the date of enact- 20 ment of the ACTION for National Service 21 Act) who elect to serve on the Advisory 22 Board. 23 ‘‘(ii) APPOINTED INITIAL MEMBERS.— 24 If fewer than seven members of the Board 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 994 IS of Directors elect to serve, the Adminis- 1 trator shall appoint additional members to 2 achieve a total of seven members of the 3 Advisory Board, to serve for the term of 4 their predecessors. For purposes of this 5 section, members appointed under this 6 clause shall be treated as if they had been 7 voting members described in clause (i). 8 ‘‘(iii) BOARD OF SEVEN MEMBERS.— 9 After the expiration of the terms of the 10 members described in clauses (i) and (ii), 11 and the seven appointments set forth in 12 subparagraph (B), the Advisory Board 13 shall be composed of seven members. 14 ‘‘(B) APPOINTMENT OF REPLACEMENT 15 MEMBERS.—Upon the expiration of the term of 16 any of the first seven members of the Advisory 17 Board whose term shall expire, a new member 18 of the Advisory Board shall be appointed as fol- 19 lows: 20 ‘‘(i) The first three members shall be 21 appointed by the President, and shall in- 22 clude— 23 ‘‘(I) an individual not younger 24 than 18 or older than 25 who— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 994 IS ‘‘(aa) has served in a school- 1 based or community-based serv- 2 ice-learning program; or 3 ‘‘(bb) is or was a participant 4 or a supervisor in a program; and 5 ‘‘(II) an individual who— 6 ‘‘(aa) is age 55 or older; and 7 ‘‘(bb) has served in the Na- 8 tional Senior Service Corps, in a 9 program carried out under title 10 II of the Domestic Volunteer 11 Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 12 5000 et seq.) or served in a serv- 13 ice-based or community-based 14 program under subtitle B of title 15 I. 16 ‘‘(ii) The next member shall be ap- 17 pointed by the Speaker of the House of 18 Representatives. 19 ‘‘(iii) The next member shall be ap- 20 pointed by the minority leader of the 21 House of Representatives. 22 ‘‘(iv) The next member shall be ap- 23 pointed by the majority leader of the Sen- 24 ate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 994 IS ‘‘(v) The next member shall be ap- 1 pointed by the minority leader of the Sen- 2 ate. 3 ‘‘(C) EXPIRATION OF THE TERM OF RE- 4 MAINING INITIAL MEMBERS.—Upon the expira- 5 tion of the terms on the Advisory Board of the 6 remaining members (after the first seven) who 7 served on the Board of Directors of the Cor- 8 poration for National and Community Service 9 (as in effect the day before the date of enact- 10 ment of the ACTION for National Service Act), 11 no new members shall be appointed to replace 12 those remaining members.’’; and 13 (B) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ‘‘the 14 Board’’ and inserting ‘‘the Advisory Board (re- 15 ferred to in this subtitle as the ‘Board’)’’; and 16 (2) by striking subsections (c), (d), and (e) and 17 inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(c) TERMS.—Members appointed in accordance with 19 any of clauses (i) through (v) of subsection (a)(1)(B) or 20 under subsection (d) shall serve for a term of 5 years. 21 ‘‘(d) APPOINTMENT OF NEW MEMBERS AND VACAN- 22 CIES.—When the term of a member appointed in accord- 23 ance with any of clauses (i) through (v) of subsection 24 (a)(1)(B) expires, or if a vacancy occurs on the Advisory 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 994 IS Board, a new member shall be appointed by the appointing 1 individual and in the manner described in that clause, and, 2 in the case of a vacancy, shall serve for the remainder 3 of the term for which the predecessor of such member was 4 appointed. The vacancy shall not affect the power of the 5 remaining members to execute the duties of the Board.’’. 6 (b) MEETINGS AND DUTIES.—Section 192A (42 7 U.S.C. 12651b) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘3 times each 9 year’’ and inserting ‘‘four times each year, with one 10 of the four meetings being an annual meeting to re- 11 view the Administration’s long-term and strategic 12 goals,’’; and 13 (2) by striking subsection (e), (f), and (g) and 14 inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(e) ADVISORY DUTIES.—The Board shall have re- 16 sponsibility for making recommendations to the Director 17 concerning the programs and activities of the Administra- 18 tion and the overall policy for the Administration and 19 shall— 20 ‘‘(1) advise the Director with respect to policies, 21 programs, and procedures for carrying out the Di- 22 rector’s functions, duties, or responsibilities under 23 this Act; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 994 IS ‘‘(2) advise the Director on establishing require- 1 ments and criteria for qualifying service programs, 2 and on monitoring and evaluating the performance 3 of personnel in carrying out programs and activities; 4 ‘‘(3) review applications of service programs for 5 approval under this Act and make recommendations 6 to the Director with respect to the approval of each 7 program and the amount of financial assistance (if 8 any) to provide to each program; 9 ‘‘(4) review and make recommendations to the 10 Director— 11 ‘‘(A) with respect to any grants, allot- 12 ments, contracts, financial assistance, or other 13 payment of the Administration; and 14 ‘‘(B) regarding the regulations, standards, 15 policies, procedures, programs, and initiatives of 16 the Administration; 17 ‘‘(5) review, and advise the Director regarding, 18 the actions of the Director with respect to the per- 19 sonnel of the Administration, and with respect to 20 such standards, policies, procedures, programs, and 21 initiatives as are necessary or appropriate to carry 22 out the programs and activities of the Administra- 23 tion, including those carried out under the national 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 994 IS service laws on the day before the date of enactment 1 of the ACTION for National Service Act; 2 ‘‘(6) make recommendations relating to a pro- 3 gram of research for the Administration with respect 4 to national and community service programs; 5 ‘‘(7) ensure effective dissemination of informa- 6 tion regarding the programs and activities of the Ad- 7 ministration; 8 ‘‘(8) prepare and make recommendations to the 9 Director and the appropriate committees of Con- 10 gress for changes in the national service laws result- 11 ing from the studies and demonstrations conducted 12 by the Administration, which recommendations shall 13 be submitted to the Director and the appropriate 14 committees of Congress not later than January 1 of 15 each year; 16 ‘‘(9) make recommendations to the Director on 17 candidates to serve on the Board of the National 18 Service Foundation described in section 199P; and 19 ‘‘(10) advise on such other matters as the Di- 20 rector may request.’’. 21 SEC. 5. DIRECTOR. 22 (a) APPOINTMENT.—Section 193(a) (42 U.S.C. 23 12651c) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 994 IS (1) by striking ‘‘an individual who shall serve as 1 Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, and’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘a Director,’’; and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘and 4 who shall hold the same rank and status as the head 5 of an executive department listed in section 101 of 6 title 5, United States Code.’’. 7 (b) INTERIM DIRECTOR.—Until a Director is ap- 8 pointed and confirmed in accordance with the amendments 9 made by subsection (a), the Chief Executive Officer of the 10 Corporation for National and Community Service (as in 11 existence the day before the date of enactment of this Act) 12 may, at the election of the Chief Executive Officer, serve 13 as interim Director. 14 SEC. 6. NATIONAL SERVICE EDUCATIONAL AWARDS. 15 Section 147(a) (42 U.S.C. 12603(a)) is amended— 16 (1) by striking ‘‘Except as provided’’ and in- 17 serting the following: 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided’’; 19 (2) by striking ‘‘shall receive a national service 20 educational award’’ and all that follows through ‘‘ap- 21 propriations)’’ and inserting ‘‘shall be entitled to a 22 national service educational award equal to the 23 award amount specified in paragraph (2)’’; and 24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 994 IS ‘‘(2) AWARD AMOUNT.—The award referred to 1 in paragraph (1), payable to an individual described 2 in such paragraph, shall be in an amount that is 3 equal to twice the amount of the national average of 4 the cost for in-State tuition and fees at public, 4- 5 year institutions of higher education, for the award 6 year for which the national service position is ap- 7 proved by the Administration. 8 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 9 ‘institution of higher education’ has the meaning 10 given the term in section 148(h).’’. 11 SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 12 The Director of the National and Community Service 13 Administration, using funds made available under section 14 501(a)(5) of the National and Community Service Act of 15 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12681(a)(5)), shall establish an inter- 16 agency working group to— 17 (1) evaluate and make recommendations re- 18 garding a process for evaluating the eligibility, for 19 national service educational awards, of individuals 20 who have participated in national service programs 21 that are not administered under this Act but are de- 22 scribed in section 123(2) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 23 12573(2)); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S994.IS S994 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 994 IS (2) evaluate the feasibility and advisability of 1 granting Federal hiring preference under chapter 33 2 of title 5, United States Code, to an individual who 3 has completed at least 1 year of service and is enti- 4 tled to the award authorized under section 147(a)(2) 5 of that Act (as amended by section 6 of this Act) 6 for that service; and 7 (3) not later than 12 months after the date of 8 enactment of this Act, prepare and submit to Con- 9 gress a report containing the results of the evalua- 10 tions described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 11 SEC. 8. NATIONAL SERVICE FOUNDATION. 12 (a) ELIMINATION OF CURRENT AUTHORITY FOR DO- 13 NATIONS OF PROPERTY.—Section 196(a) (42 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]