The National Service GI Bill Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5829 To require in-State tuition for certain Americorps volunteers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 10, 2020 Mr. WALTZ (for himself, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. PANETTA, and Mr. BACON) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require in-State tuition for certain Americorps volunteers, 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 ‘‘The National Service 4 GI Bill Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5829 IH SEC. 2. IN-STATE TUITION FOR CERTAIN AMERICORPS VOL- 1 UNTEERS. 2 Part C of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 138. IN-STATE TUITION FOR AMERICORPS VOLUN- 5 TEERS. 6 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—For a period of 7 years begin- 7 ning on the date of enactment of the National Service GI 8 Bill Act, in the case of an individual who has served in 9 an approved national service position (as defined in section 10 101 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 11 (42 U.S.C. 12511)) for not less than 1,700 hours during 12 a period of not more than 1 year, who meets the require- 13 ments of subsection (b), and whose domicile is in a State 14 that receives assistance under this Act, such State shall 15 not charge such individual (or the spouse or dependent 16 child of such member) tuition for attendance at a public 17 institution of higher education in the State at a rate that 18 is greater than the rate charged for residents of the State. 19 ‘‘(b) STATE LAW AND REGULATIONS.—Notwith- 20 standing State laws with respect to residency, to benefit 21 from the provisions of this section, an individual shall 22 meet the enrollment and financial-aid requirements under 23 applicable State law and regulations. 24 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take ef- 25 fect at each public institution of higher education in a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5829 IH State that receives assistance under this Act for the first 1 period of enrollment at such institution that begins on or 2 after July 1, 2021.’’. 3 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY 4 SERVICE ACT OF 1990. 5 (a) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES AND 6 SUBDIVISIONS OF STATES.—Section 121(a) of the Na- 7 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 8 12571(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES 10 AND SUBDIVISIONS OF STATES.—A State or subdivi- 11 sion of a State desiring to receive assistance under 12 this subsection shall submit a plan to the Corpora- 13 tion— 14 ‘‘(A) to ensure that beginning not later 15 than middle school, students in such State or 16 subdivision— 17 ‘‘(i) are notified of and encouraged to 18 commit to a term of service in the military, 19 a national service program, or a public 20 service job as an employee of a local, State, 21 or Federal Government, or faith-based al- 22 ternative program; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5829 IH ‘‘(ii) provided information relating to 1 the various terms and benefits of such op- 2 tions; and 3 ‘‘(B) that includes assurances that in high 4 school, each student would be requested to— 5 ‘‘(i) indicate the preference of the stu- 6 dent for military, a national service pro- 7 gram, or public service, or a faith-based al- 8 ternative program; and 9 ‘‘(ii) register the intent of the student 10 to serve in such a program upon gradua- 11 tion from high school, or defer until com- 12 pletion of a program of study at an institu- 13 tion of higher education.’’. 14 (b) EDUCATIONAL AWARD AMOUNT FOR FULL-TIME 15 NATIONAL SERVICE.—Section 147(a) of the National and 16 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12603) is 17 amended by inserting ‘‘2 times the amount of the national 18 average of the annual tuition and fees (as described in 19 section 472(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 20 U.S.C. 1087ll(1))) at 2-year institutions of higher edu- 21 cation, except that such value shall be not less than’’ after 22 ‘‘value equal to’’. 23 (c) NONCOMPETITIVE HIRING AUTHORITY.—Part III 24 of subtitle C of title I of the National and Community 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5829 IH Service Act of 1990 is amended by adding at the end the 1 following: 2 ‘‘SEC. 142. NONCOMPETITIVE HIRING AUTHORITY. 3 ‘‘Upon completion of a term of service in a national 4 service position, an individual shall be eligible for appoint- 5 ment in the competitive service in the same manner as 6 a Peace Corps volunteer as prescribed in Executive Order 7 11103 (22 U.S.C. 2504 note, relating to Providing for the 8 Appointment of Former Peace Corps Volunteers to the Ci- 9 vilian Career Services).’’. 10 SEC. 4. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME OF AMERICORPS 11 EDUCATIONAL AWARDS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 117(c) 13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik- 14 ing ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (B), by striking the 15 period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘, 16 or’’, and by adding at the end the following new subpara- 17 graph: 18 ‘‘(D) a national service educational award 19 under subtitle D of title I of the National and 20 Community Service Act of 1990.’’. 21 (b) EXCLUSION OF DISCHARGE OF STUDENT LOAN 22 DEBT.—Subsection (f) of section 108 of such Code is 23 amended by adding at the end the following new para- 24 graph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5829 IH ‘‘(6) PAYMENTS UNDER NATIONAL SERVICE 1 EDUCATIONAL AWARD PROGRAMS.—In the case of 2 an individual, gross income shall not include any 3 amount received under a national service educational 4 award under subtitle D of title I of the National and 5 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 6 et seq.).’’. 7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 8 this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act. 10 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 11 Section 2233(b) of the Elementary and Secondary 12 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6663(b)) is amended 13 by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(1) shall— 16 ‘‘(A) show potential to improve the quality 17 of student achievement in, and teaching of, 18 American history, civics and government, or ge- 19 ography, in elementary schools and secondary 20 schools; 21 ‘‘(B) demonstrate innovation, scalability, 22 accountability, and a focus on underserved pop- 23 ulations; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5829 IH ‘‘(C) include programs that educate stu- 1 dents about the history and principles of the 2 Constitution of the United States, including the 3 Bill of Rights; and 4 ‘‘(2) may include hands-on civic engagement ac- 5 tivities for teachers and students.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Feb 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS