COVID–19 National Service Response Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6315 To provide administrative support and flexibility to the Corporation for Na- tional and Community Service to respond to the COVID–19 national emergency as declared by the President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to the coronavirus. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2020 Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide administrative support and flexibility to the Cor- poration for National and Community Service to respond to the COVID–19 national emergency as declared by the President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to the coronavirus. 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 ‘‘COVID–19 National 4 Service Response Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6315.IH H6315 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6315 IH SEC. 2. COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOR 1 THE CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND 2 COMMUNITY SERVICE. 3 (a) ACCRUAL OF SERVICE HOURS.— 4 (1) ACCRUAL THROUGH OTHER SERVICE 5 HOURS.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 7 other provision of the Domestic Volunteer Serv- 8 ice Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.) or the 9 National and Community Service Act of 1990 10 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.), the Corporation for 11 National and Community Service shall allow an 12 individual described in subparagraph (B) to ac- 13 crue other service hours that will count toward 14 the number of hours needed for the individual’s 15 education award. 16 (B) AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS.—Subpara- 17 graph (A) shall apply to any individual serving 18 in a position eligible for an educational award 19 under subtitle D of title I of the National and 20 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 21 12601 et seq.)— 22 (i) who is performing limited service 23 due to COVID–19; or 24 (ii) whose position has been suspended 25 or placed on hold due to COVID–19. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6315.IH H6315 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6315 IH (2) PROVISIONS IN CASE OF EARLY EXIT.—In 1 any case where an individual serving in a position el- 2 igible for an educational award under subtitle D of 3 title I of the National and Community Service Act 4 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.) was required to 5 exit the position early at the direction of the Cor- 6 poration for National and Community Service, the 7 Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for Na- 8 tional and Community Service may— 9 (A) deem such individual as having met 10 the requirements of the position; and 11 (B) award the individual the full value of 12 the educational award under such subtitle for 13 which the individual would otherwise have been 14 eligible. 15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any 16 other provision of law, all funds made available to the Cor- 17 poration for National and Community Service under any 18 Act, including the amounts appropriated to the Corpora- 19 tion under the headings ‘‘OPERATING EXPENSES’’, 20 ‘‘SALARIES AND EXPENSES’’, and ‘‘OFFICE OF 21 THE INSPECTOR GENERAL’’ under the heading 22 ‘‘Corporation for National and Community Service’’ under 23 title IV of Division A of the Further Consolidated Appro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6315.IH H6315 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6315 IH priations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–94), shall remain 1 available for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. 2 (c) NO REQUIRED RETURN OF GRANT FUNDS.— 3 Notwithstanding section 129(l)(3)(A)(i) of the National 4 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5 12581(l)(3)(A)(i)), the Chief Executive Officer of the Cor- 6 poration for National and Community Service may permit 7 fixed-amount grant recipients under such section 129(l) 8 to maintain a pro rata amount of grant funds, at the dis- 9 cretion of the Corporation for National and Community 10 Service, for participants who exited, were suspended, or 11 are serving in a limited capacity due to COVID–19, to 12 enable the grant recipients to maintain operations and to 13 accept participants. 14 (d) EXTENSION OF TERMS AND AGE LIMITS.—Not- 15 withstanding any other provision of law, the Corporation 16 for National and Community Service may extend the term 17 of service (for a period not to exceed the 1-year period 18 immediately following the end of the national emergency) 19 or waive any upper age limit (except in no case shall the 20 maximum age exceed 26 years of age) for national service 21 programs carried out by the National Civilian Community 22 Corps under subtitle E of title I of the National and Com- 23 munity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12611 et seq.), 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6315.IH H6315 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6315 IH and the participants in such programs, for the purposes 1 of— 2 (1) addressing disruptions due to COVID–19; 3 and 4 (2) minimizing the difficulty in returning to full 5 operation due to COVID–19 on such programs and 6 participants. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Apr 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6315.IH H6315 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS