Inspire to Serve Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6415 To build on America’s spirit of service to nurture, promote, and expand a culture of service to secure the Nation’s future, address critical needs of the Nation, and strengthen the civic fabric of American society. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 27, 2020 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. BACON, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. RIGGLEMAN, Mr. CARBAJAL, and Mr. CROW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Ways and Means, Oversight and Reform, Veterans’ Affairs, Homeland Security, In- telligence (Permanent Select), House Administration, the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, 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 build on America’s spirit of service to nurture, promote, and expand a culture of service to secure the Nation’s future, address critical needs of the Nation, and strengthen the civic fabric of American society. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6415 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Inspire to Serve Act 2 of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—PRIORITIZATION OF CIVIC EDUCATION AND SERVICE LEARNING Sec. 101. Civic education fund. Sec. 102. Service-learning fund. Sec. 103. National civics assessment. Sec. 104. Excellence in civics award. Sec. 105. Development of material on civic education and effective citizenship. Sec. 106. Sense of Congress regarding the importance of teachers in inspiring civic engagement. TITLE II—ELEVATION AND INTEGRATION OF ALL FORMS OF SERVICE Sec. 201. Council on Military, National, and Public Service. Sec. 202. Internet-based service platform. Sec. 203. Pilot program to coordinate military, national, and public service re- cruitment. Sec. 204. Joint market research and recruiting program to advance military and national service. Sec. 205. Information sharing to advance military and national service. Sec. 206. Transition opportunities for military servicemembers and national service participants. Sec. 207. Joint report to Congress on initiatives to integrate military and na- tional service. TITLE III—ADVANCEMENT OF MILITARY, NATIONAL, AND PUBLIC SERVICE Sec. 300. Definitions. Subtitle A—Advancement of Military Service Sec. 301. New personnel management structure for military specialists. Sec. 302. Pre-service tuition grant program. Sec. 303. Pilot program on technical civilian professional credentials. Sec. 304. Expansion of Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Program. Sec. 305. Expansion of Cyber Institutes Program. Sec. 306. Temporary authority for targeted recruitment incentives. Sec. 307. Multiyear appropriations for marketing and advertising. Subtitle B—Advancement of National Service Sec. 321. National service fellowships. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6415 IH Sec. 322. Expansion of youthbuild, youth conservation corps, and national guard youth challenge programs. Sec. 323. National service public awareness campaign. Sec. 324. Recognition of corporate contributions to national service. Sec. 325. Corporation for national and community service demonstration projects. Sec. 326. Peace Corps remote demonstration projects. Sec. 327. National service living allowance increases. Sec. 328. Senior Corps stipend increases. Sec. 329. Wraparound support services for certain national service participants. Sec. 330. National service educational award increases. Sec. 331. Expanded use of national service educational award. Sec. 332. Discounted end-of-service cash stipend for national service members. Sec. 333. Exclusion of national service educational award from gross income. Sec. 334. Transferability of national service educational award. Sec. 335. Noncompetitive eligibility for full-time national service participants. Sec. 336. Pension service credit for Federal service corps participants. Sec. 337. Senior Corps competitive grant model. Subtitle C—Advancement of Public Service: Modernization of Federal Personnel Systems Sec. 341. Enhanced awareness of the value of Federal public service. Sec. 342. Responsibility for determining eligibility for hiring preferences and special hiring options. Sec. 343. Enhancement of special hiring authorities for military veterans. Sec. 344. Noncompetitive eligibility for high-performing civilian employees. Sec. 345. Flexibility for temporary and term appointments. Sec. 346. Criteria for granting direct-hire authority to agencies. Sec. 347. Cafeteria plan for Federal employees. Sec. 348. Modern benefits pilot program. Sec. 349. Demonstration project flexibility for the Office of Personnel Manage- ment. Sec. 350. Advanced assessment tools for Executive agency hiring. Sec. 351. Competency standards for human resources specialists. Sec. 352. Evaluation of improvements to the Federal civil service personnel sys- tem. Sec. 353. Proposals for modern talent-management system. Sec. 354. Annual report on blended Federal workforce. Sec. 355. Sense of Congress on effective and efficient management of the blended Federal workforce. Subtitle D—Advancement of Public Service: Students, Recent Graduates, and Critical Skills Sec. 361. Federal Fellowship and Scholarship Center. Sec. 362. Public Service Corps. Sec. 363. Public service academy grants. Sec. 364. Public service cadet program at military service academies. Sec. 365. Compensation for Federal interns. Sec. 366. Establishment of Pathways Program. Sec. 367. Enhanced hiring for recent college graduates and post-secondary stu- dents. Sec. 368. Aggregate number of hires of recent college graduates and post-sec- ondary students. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6415 IH Sec. 369. Demonstration project to hire recent college graduates and post-sec- ondary students with critical skills. Sec. 370. Noncompetitive eligibility for Federal developmental positions. Sec. 371. Facilitation of Federal employee reskilling. Sec. 372. Civilian Cybersecurity Reserve pilot project. Sec. 373. Expansion of cyber talent management system. Sec. 374. Personnel policy demonstration project for Federal agencies with em- ployees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Sec. 375. Development of proposal for simplified personnel system for Veterans Health Administration. Sec. 376. Portability of health care licensure for Federal employees. TITLE IV—STRENGTHENING OF NATIONAL MOBILIZATION Sec. 401. Modernization of the Selective Service System. Sec. 402. Report on exemptions and deferments for a possible military draft. Sec. 403. Responsibilities for national mobilization; personnel requirements. Sec. 404. Enhancements to national mobilization exercises. Sec. 405. Critical skills for the Department of Defense. Sec. 406. Individual Ready Reserve for Critical Skills. TITLE I—PRIORITIZATION OF 1 CIVIC EDUCATION AND SERV- 2 ICE LEARNING 3 SEC. 101. CIVIC EDUCATION FUND. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 (1) APPLIED CIVICS.—The term ‘‘applied 6 civics’’ means an educational program applying serv- 7 ice-learning methods to provide students with prac- 8 tical and experiential opportunities to apply their 9 civic knowledge and skills. 10 (2) CIVIC EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘civic edu- 11 cation’’ means an educational program that provides 12 participants with knowledge of law, government, and 13 the rights and responsibilities of citizens and skills 14 that enable participants to participate responsibly in 15 democracy. 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6415 IH (3) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY AND STATE 1 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘educational 2 service agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 3 have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 6 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 7 ty’’ means— 8 (A) any local educational agency; 9 (B) any State educational agency; 10 (C) any educational service agency; 11 (D) any institution of higher education; 12 (E) any community-based organization; 13 (F) any nonprofit, nongovernmental orga- 14 nization; or 15 (G) any consortium of entities described in 16 subparagraphs (A) through (F). 17 (5) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 18 school’’ means any public elementary school or sec- 19 ondary school that is located in an area in which the 20 percentage of students from families with incomes 21 below the poverty line is 30 percent or more, as de- 22 termined by the Secretary. 23 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6415 IH meaning given that term in section 8101 of the Ele- 1 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 2 U.S.C. 7801). 3 (7) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 4 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 5 that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) 7 and includes any tribally sanctioned educational au- 8 thority as defined in section 3201 of that Act (20 9 U.S.C. 7011). 10 (8) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means— 11 (A) any elementary school or secondary 12 school as those terms are defined in section 13 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801); and 15 (B) any education program provided by the 16 Secretary of Defense under section 2164 of title 17 10, United States Code. 18 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 the Secretary of Education. 20 (10) SERVICE-LEARNING.—The term ‘‘service- 21 learning’’ has the meaning given that term in section 22 101 of the National and Community Service Act of 23 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6415 IH (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 1 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 2 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other terri- 3 tory or possession of the United States. 4 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 6 and administer a Civic Education Fund from which 7 the Secretary makes grants under this section to eli- 8 gible entities, on a competitive basis, to support the 9 development and evaluation of civic education pro- 10 grams in schools. 11 (2) PURPOSE.—The purposes of grants award- 12 ed from the Civic Education Fund are— 13 (A) to promote and expand civic education 14 by supporting the development and implementa- 15 tion of high-quality civic education, applied 16 civics, and service-learning programming in 17 schools; 18 (B) to promote the development and imple- 19 mentation of evidence-based curricula and edu- 20 cational standards, and to provide teacher de- 21 velopment, with respect to civic education, ap- 22 plied civics, and service-learning programming 23 in schools; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6415 IH (C) to support State and local educational 1 agencies, institutions of higher education, and 2 nonprofit organizations in their efforts to sup- 3 port civic education, applied civics, and service- 4 learning in schools. 5 (c) TEACHER DEVELOPMENT IN CIVIC EDUCATION, 6 APPLIED CIVICS, AND SERVICE LEARNING.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may apply 8 for a grant under this section for the purpose of 9 teacher development in civic education, applied 10 civics, and service-learning in schools. Such grant 11 may only be used— 12 (A) to train teachers in effective strategies 13 for instructing students in civic education, ap- 14 plied civics, and service-learning; 15 (B) to host training sessions for teachers 16 to share best practices and learn new skills; 17 (C) to develop resources that teachers can 18 use in the classroom to improve civic education, 19 applied civics, and service-learning programs for 20 students; 21 (D) to coordinate with other local organi- 22 zations and community-based services and pro- 23 grams to provide hands-on civic learning devel- 24 opment opportunities; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6415 IH (E) to support any other programs de- 1 signed to ensure that teachers have the req- 2 uisite knowledge and skills to successfully teach 3 civic education and applied civics. 4 (2) GRANTS.— 5 (A) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR HIGH- 6 NEED SCHOOLS.—Of the funds made available 7 for grants under this subsection, the Secretary 8 shall reserve not less than 50 percent for grants 9 to provide services for teachers in high-need 10 schools. 11 (B) GENERAL GRANTS.—The remainder of 12 the funds made available for grants under this 13 subsection (but not more than 50 percent of 14 such funds) shall be granted on a competitive 15 basis to eligible entities for the purpose of 16 teacher development in civic education, applied 17 civics, and service learning in schools. 18 (d) DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EF- 19 FECTIVE CIVIC EDUCATION, APPLIED CIVICS, AND SERV- 20 ICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may apply 22 for a grant under this section for activities to sup- 23 port effective civic education, applied civics, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Apr 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6415.IH H6415 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6415 IH service-learning programs in schools. Such grant 1 may only be used— 2 (A) to establish a new, or improve an exist- 3 ing, civic education, applied civics, or service- 4 learning program; 5 (B) to eval [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]