CORPS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3964 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 JUNE 16, 2020 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. WICKER, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. REED, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. CAS- SIDY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. KING, and Ms. COLLINS) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Finance 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 Response to the Pandemic through Service 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘CORPS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3964 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 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3964 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 10 VISTA, and National Senior Service Corps pro- 11 grams, can and should be expanded to meet current 12 needs. 13 (8) The novel coronavirus pandemic has in- 14 fected and killed individuals in every State and terri- 15 tory, causing more than 2,000,000 cases and 16 115,000 deaths so far. 17 (9) In response, States, tribal governments, and 18 cities across the country have closed down busi- 19 nesses, schools, and public events, leading to a dra- 20 matic drop in economic activity and a sharp pro- 21 jected decline in the United States economy. 22 (10) More than 40,000,000 applications for un- 23 employment benefits have been filed in recent weeks, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3964 IS with weekly filings repeatedly exceeding historic 1 record levels. 2 (11) More than one 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 also needs mean- 9 ingful employment opportunities, as well as a signifi- 10 cant expansion of the human capital working to ad- 11 dress community needs around public health, behav- 12 ioral 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 public 23 health, employment, and recovery needs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3964 IS SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are— 2 (1) to provide for annual growth of 250,000 3 participants, over 3 years, in national service pro- 4 grams, such as the Public Land Corps (also known 5 as the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps) 6 programs and other AmeriCorps programs, that will 7 provide services in response to the pandemic and 8 economic crisis; 9 (2) to ensure that participant allowances cover 10 the reasonable cost of participation and provide par- 11 ticipants with economic and educational opportunity; 12 (3) to stabilize such national service programs 13 during economic crisis; and 14 (4) to support opportunities for all individuals 15 in the United States to engage in service. 16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 17 (a) NCSA.—Section 101 of the National and Com- 18 munity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511) is amend- 19 ed— 20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through 21 (16), (17) through (35), and (36) through (49), as 22 paragraphs (14) through (17), (19) through (37), 23 and (39) through (52), respectively; 24 (2) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol- 25 lowing: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3964 IS ‘‘(13) COVID–19 DEFINITIONS.— 1 ‘‘(A) COVID–19 EMERGENCY RESPONSE 2 AND RECOVERY PERIOD.—The term ‘COVID– 3 19 emergency response and recovery period’ 4 means the period beginning on the first day of 5 the COVID–19 public health emergency and 6 ending at the end of fiscal year 2023. 7 ‘‘(B) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 8 GENCY.—The term ‘COVID–19 public health 9 emergency’ means the public health emergency 10 declared by the Secretary of Health and 11 Human Services under section 319 of the Pub- 12 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on 13 January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID– 14 19.’’; 15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (17), as so re- 16 designated, the following: 17 ‘‘(18) HIGH-POVERTY AREA.—The term ‘high- 18 poverty area’ means a census tract defined as high- 19 poverty by the Bureau of the Census.’’; and 20 (4) by inserting after paragraph (37), as so re- 21 designated, the following: 22 ‘‘(38) PUBLIC LAND CORPS.—The term ‘Public 23 Lands Corps’ means the Corps established in section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3964 IS 204 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 1 U.S.C. 1723).’’. 2 (b) DVSA.—Section 421 of the Domestic Volunteer 3 Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5061) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (19), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 5 the semicolon; 6 (2) in paragraph (20), by striking the period at 7 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(21)(A) the term ‘COVID–19 emergency re- 10 sponse and recovery period’ means the period begin- 11 ning on the first day of the COVID–19 public health 12 emergency and ending at the end of fiscal year 13 2023; and 14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘COVID–19 public health emer- 15 gency’ means the public health emergency declared 16 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 17 under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act 18 (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect 19 to COVID–19; and 20 ‘‘(22) the term ‘Public Lands Corps’ means the 21 Corps established in section 204 of the Public Lands 22 Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723).’’. 23 SEC. 5. PRIORITIZING RESPONSE SERVICES. 24 (a) AMERICORPS STATE AND NATIONAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3964 IS (1) NATIONAL SERVICE PRIORITIES.—Section 1 122(f) of the National and Community Service Act 2 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(f)) is amended— 3 (A) in paragraph (1)— 4 (i) in subparagraph (A), by adding at 5 the end the following: ‘‘For fiscal years 6 2020 through 2023, the Corporation shall 7 include, in the national service priorities, 8 the priorities described in paragraph (5).’’; 9 and 10 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by adding at 11 the end the following: ‘‘For fiscal years 12 2020 through 2023, each State shall in- 13 clude, in the State priorities, the priorities 14 described in section (5).’’; and 15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(5) EMERGENCY PRIORITIES.—For fiscal years 17 2020 through 2023, the priorities established under 18 paragraph (1) for national service programs shall 19 provide that the Corporation and the States, as ap- 20 propriate, shall give priority to entities submitting 21 applications— 22 ‘‘(A) that propose activities directly related 23 to the response to and recovery from the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3964 IS COVID–19 public health emergency, such as 1 the provision of— 2 ‘‘(i) public health services, including 3 support for isolation and quarantine activi- 4 ties; 5 ‘‘(ii) emergency logistics, such as the 6 setup of alternate care sites; 7 ‘‘(iii) work that furthers the capacity 8 of State (including territorial), tribal, and 9 local health departments and the rec- 10 ommendations of the Director of the Cen- 11 ters for Disease Control and Prevention; 12 ‘‘(iv) work that furthers the capacity 13 of nonprofit and community organizations 14 to respond to the immediate needs of indi- 15 viduals affected by COVID–19; 16 ‘‘(v) services that support economic 17 opportunity; 18 ‘‘(vi) education, including enrichment 19 and adult education and literacy activities; 20 ‘‘(vii) services to address housing and 21 food insecurity; and 22 ‘‘(viii) jobs for youth in preserving 23 and restoring nature; 24 ‘‘(B) who— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3964 IS ‘‘(i) are— 1 ‘‘(I) current (as of the date of 2 the application submission) or former 3 recipients of financial assistance 4 under the program for which the ap- 5 plication is submitted; and 6 ‘‘(II) able to provide services di- 7 rectly related to the response and re- 8 covery described in subparagraph (A); 9 or 10 ‘‘(ii) are— 11 ‘‘(I) community-based organiza- 12 tions located in the rural or high-pov- 13 erty areas, or tribal communities, the 14 organizations propose to serve; and 15 ‘‘(II) able to provide services di- 16 rectly related to the response and re- 17 covery described in subparagraph (A); 18 ‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable— 19 ‘‘(i) if the entities are proposing pro- 20 grams that serve, or proposing to give pri- 21 ority for positions to applicants from, un- 22 derserved populations, such as individuals 23 described in section 129(a)(1)(B) of the 24 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3964 IS (29 U.S.C. 3164(a)(1)(B)), minority indi- 1 viduals, individuals who have had contact 2 with the juvenile justice system, Indians, 3 veterans, and individuals whose abilities 4 are not typical, such as individuals with in- 5 tellectual or developmental disabilities; 6 ‘‘(ii) especially if the entities propose 7 recruiting applicants for positions to serve 8 in the same metropolitan or micropolitan 9 statistical area or county as the area or 10 county, respectively, in which the appli- 11 cants attended a secondary school or insti- 12 tution of higher education; and 13 ‘‘(iii) especially if the entities propose 14 programs that serve populations in rural or 15 high-poverty areas, or tribal communities; 16 and 17 ‘‘(D) that propose to give priority for posi- 18 tions to applicants who— 19 ‘‘(i) were serving outside of the 20 United States in the Peace Corps, the J. 21 William Fulbright Educational Exchange 22 Program referenced in section 112 of the 23 Mutual Educational and Cultural Ex- 24 change Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2460), or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3964 IS the program under this subtitle, subtitle E, 1 or part A of title I of the Domestic Volun- 2 teer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4951 3 et seq.); but 4 ‘‘(ii) ended their terms of service 5 early, or returned to the United States be- 6 fore the end of their terms of service, due 7 to the COVID–19 public health emer- 8 gency.’’. 9 (b) AMERICORPS NCCC.—Section 157 of the Na- 10 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 11 12617) is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end 13 the following: 14 ‘‘(C) SURGE CAPACITY AND PRIORITY 15 PROJECTS.— 16 ‘‘(i) SURGE CAPACITY PROJECTS.— 17 The Corporation and the Director of the 18 Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 19 tion shall develop, and the Corporation 20 shall approve, a proposal for public health 21 surge capacity projects. In carrying out the 22 projects, the Corporation and the Director 23 shall develop and deploy public health 24 surge capacity teams. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3964.IS S3964 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3964 IS ‘‘(ii) PRIORITY PROJECTS.—For fiscal 1 years 2020 through 2023, the Corporation 2 shall give priority to entities submitting 3 applications for projects under this [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]