IT Service Corps Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3975 To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish service programs dedicated to digital equity, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 9, 2023 Mr. KILMER (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish service programs dedicated to digital equity, 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 ‘‘IT Service Corps Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. STATE AND NATIONAL. 5 (a) STATE AND NATIONAL.—Section 122(b)(2) of the 6 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 7 12572(b)(2)) is amended— 8 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub- 9 paragraph (J); and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3975.IH H3975 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3975 IH (2) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(I) A program that— 3 ‘‘(i) is dedicated to the achievement of 4 digital equity in underserved communities, 5 including through supporting digital inclu- 6 sion activities and enhancing digital lit- 7 eracy among individuals in such commu- 8 nities; 9 ‘‘(ii) provides participants— 10 ‘‘(I) assistance in the develop- 11 ment of professional and technical 12 skills with respect to information tech- 13 nology, including— 14 ‘‘(aa) by providing and pre- 15 paring participants with suffi- 16 cient training to effectively oper- 17 ate, maintain, or otherwise adapt 18 to new technologies related to in- 19 formation technology; and 20 ‘‘(bb) to the extent prac- 21 ticable, training and financial 22 support for training that pre- 23 pares such participants to ac- 24 quire an industry recognized, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3975.IH H3975 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3975 IH vendor-neutral certification in in- 1 formation technology; 2 ‘‘(II) guidance that may be used 3 in careers in information technology, 4 or in pursuing further education or 5 apprenticeships relating to informa- 6 tion technology; 7 ‘‘(III) the necessary equipment, 8 or assistance in purchasing such 9 equipment, for such program, includ- 10 ing computer devices and 11 smartphones; and 12 ‘‘(IV) with mentors who are in- 13 formation technology professionals; 14 ‘‘(iii) in recruiting participants— 15 ‘‘(I) conducts outreach and re- 16 cruitment in underserved communities 17 and other local communities; and 18 ‘‘(II) gives consideration to indi- 19 viduals who are from a marginalized 20 community or background, have been 21 dislocated from their jobs as a result 22 of the COVID–19 pandemic and sub- 23 sequent economic crisis, or have expe- 24 rienced long-term unemployment; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3975.IH H3975 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3975 IH ‘‘(iv) using data available by the Cor- 1 poration, if any, with respect to partici- 2 pants, collects and reports to Congress 3 workforce information on participants, in- 4 cluding— 5 ‘‘(I) demographic data; 6 ‘‘(II) prior career background, in- 7 cluding prior career industry, role, 8 and years of experience; 9 ‘‘(III) future career intentions, 10 including desired industry and role; 11 and 12 ‘‘(IV) any job, education, or ap- 13 prenticeship placements after partici- 14 pation in the program; and 15 ‘‘(v) defines the following terms as fol- 16 lows: 17 ‘‘(I) DIGITAL EQUITY.—The term 18 ‘digital equity’ means the condition in 19 which individuals and communities 20 have the information technology ca- 21 pacity that is needed for full partici- 22 pation in the society and economy of 23 the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3975.IH H3975 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3975 IH ‘‘(II) DIGITAL INCLUSION.—The 1 term ‘digital inclusion’— 2 ‘‘(aa) means the activities 3 that are necessary to ensure that 4 all individuals in the United 5 States have access to, and the 6 use of, affordable information 7 and communication technologies, 8 such as— 9 ‘‘(AA) reliable fixed and 10 wireless broadband internet 11 service; 12 ‘‘(BB) internet-enabled 13 devices that meet the needs 14 of the user; and 15 ‘‘(CC) applications and 16 online content designed to 17 enable and encourage self- 18 sufficiency, participation, 19 and collaboration; and 20 ‘‘(bb) includes access to dig- 21 ital literacy training, quality 22 technical support, and basic 23 awareness of measures to ensure 24 online privacy and cybersecurity. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3975.IH H3975 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3975 IH ‘‘(III) DIGITAL LITERACY.—The 1 term ‘digital literacy’ means the skills 2 associated with using technology to 3 enable users to find, evaluate, orga- 4 nize, create, and communicate infor- 5 mation. 6 ‘‘(IV) UNDERSERVED COMMU- 7 NITY.—The term ‘underserved com- 8 munity’ means a community with dig- 9 ital equity, health, financial, edu- 10 cation, or housing disparities.’’. 11 (b) NATIONAL CIVILIAN COMMUNITY CORPS.—Sec- 12 tion 157(a)(1) of the National and Community Service Act 13 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12617(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 14 before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, which may include 15 a program dedicated to digital equity described in section 16 122(b)(2)(I)’’. 17 (c) VISTA.—Section 103(a) of the Domestic Volun- 18 teer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4953(a)) is amend- 19 ed— 20 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 21 end; 22 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at 23 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3975.IH H3975 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3975 IH ‘‘(14) in addressing digital equity, which meets 1 the requirements of a program described in section 2 122(b)(2)(I) of the National and Community Service 3 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(b)(2)(I)).’’. 4 (d) AMERICORPS SENIOR PROGRAMS.—Section 5 225(b)(5) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 6 (42 U.S.C. 5025(b)(5)) is amended by inserting before the 7 period the following: ‘‘, including a program dedicated to 8 digital equity described in section 122(b)(2)(I) of the Na- 9 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 10 12572(b)(2)(I))’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3975.IH H3975 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS