Pandemic Response and Opportunity Through National Service Act
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.
2. Findings
3. Purposes
4. Definitions
“(13) COVID–19 definitions
“(A) COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period—The term COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period means the period beginning on the first day of the COVID–19 public health emergency and ending at the end of fiscal year 2023.
“(B) COVID–19 public health emergency—The term COVID–19 public health emergency means the public health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19.”
“(37) Public land corps—The term Public Lands Corps means the Corps established in section 204 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723).”
“(21)
“(A) the term COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period means the period beginning on the first day of the COVID–19 public health emergency and ending at the end of fiscal year 2023; and
“(B) the term COVID–19 public health emergency means the public health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19; and
“(22) the term Public Lands Corps means the Corps established in section 204 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723).”
5. Prioritizing response services
“(5) Emergency priorities—For fiscal years 2020 through 2023, the priorities established under paragraph (1) for national service programs shall provide that the Corporation and the States, as appropriate, shall give priority to entities submitting applications—
“(A) that propose activities directly related to the response to and recovery from the COVID–19 public health emergency, such as the provision of—
“(i) public health services, including contact tracing and support for isolation and quarantine activities;
“(ii) emergency logistics;
“(iii) work that furthers the capacity of State (including territorial), tribal, and local health departments and the recommendations of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
“(iv) workforce investment activities and reemployment services;
“(v) education, including enrichment and adult education and literacy activities;
“(vi) jobs for youth in preserving and restoring nature; and
“(vii) services to address food insecurity;
“(B) who—
“(i) are current (as of the date of the application submission) or former recipients of financial assistance under the program for which the application is submitted; and
“(ii) are able to provide services directly related to the response and recovery described in subparagraph (A);
“(C) to the maximum extent practicable, if the entities are proposing programs that serve, or proposing to give priority for positions to applicants from, underserved populations, such as economically disadvantaged individuals, minority individuals, individuals who have had contact with the juvenile justice system, Indians, veterans, and individuals whose abilities are not typical, such as individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities; and
“(D) that propose to give priority for positions to applicants who—
“(i) were serving outside of the United States in the Peace Corps, the J. William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program referenced in section 112 of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2460), or the program under this subtitle, subtitle E, or part A of title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.); but
“(ii) ended their terms of service early, or returned to the United States before the end of their terms of service, due to the COVID–19 public health emergency.”
“(C) Surge capacity and priority projects
“(i) Surge capacity projects—The Corporation and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall develop, and the Corporation shall approve, a proposal for public health surge capacity projects. In carrying out the projects, the Corporation and the Director shall develop and deploy public health surge capacity teams.
“(ii) Priority projects—For fiscal years 2020 through 2023, the Corporation shall give priority to entities submitting applications for projects under this subtitle in the same manner as the Corporation gives priority to entities submitting applications for national service programs under section 122(f)(5).”
“(3) Surge capacity and priority projects—The Corporation shall assign the projects described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(C) to specified Corps campuses.”
6. Strengthening opportunity
“(4)
“(A) A stipend or allowance under this section or an allowance under section 140 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12594) shall not be increased as a result of amendments made by the Pandemic Response and Opportunity Through National Service Act, or any other amendment made to this section or that section 140, respectively, unless the funds appropriated for carrying out this part or subtitle C of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.), respectively, are sufficient to maintain for the fiscal year involved a number of participants to serve under this part or that subtitle C, respectively, that is at least equal to the number of such participants so serving during the preceding fiscal year.
“(B) In the event that sufficient appropriations for any fiscal year (consistent with subparagraph (A)) are not available to increase any stipend or allowance under this section or allowance under section 140 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to the minimum amount specified in this section or under that section 140, respectively, the Director shall increase the stipend or allowance involved to such amount as appropriations for such year permit consistent with subparagraph (A).”
“(1) In general—The Director”
“(1) In general—Except as provided”
“(2) Award amount—The award referred to in paragraph (1), payable to an individual described in such paragraph, shall be in an amount that is equal to twice the amount of the national average of the cost for in-State tuition and fees at public, 4-year institutions of higher education, for the award year for which the national service position is approved by the Corporation.
“(3) Definition—In this subsection, the term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 148(h).”
“139I. Living allowance for national service participants
“Gross income does not include the amount of any living allowance provided under section 105(b) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4955(b)) or section 140(a) or 158(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12594(a), 12618(b)).”
“(e) National service educational awards—Gross income shall not include any payments from the National Service Trust established under section 145 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601), including the national service educational award described in subtitle D of title I of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.).”
“(6) Payments under national service educational award programs—In the case of an individual, gross income shall not include any amount received as a national service educational award under subtitle D of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.).”
7. Inviting participation
“(j) Coordination with other youth programs
“(1) Covered programs—The term covered program means—
“(A) the YouthBuild program carried out by the Secretary of Labor under section 171 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226);
“(B) the program of the Indian Youth Service Corps under section 210 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1727b);
“(C) a youth conservation corps program under title I of the Act entitled “An Act to establish a pilot program in the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture designated as the Youth Conservation Corps, and for other purposes”, approved August 13, 1970 (commonly known as the “Youth Conservation Corps Act of 1970”; 16 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
“(D) the National Guard Youth Challenge Program under section 509 of title 32, United States Code.
“(2) Coordination—The Chief Executive Officer, in coordination with the Federal agency representatives for covered programs, shall develop a plan and make recommendations in the plan to improve coordination between covered programs and programs of the Corporation to meet the needs of underserved youth, such as economically disadvantaged youth, minority youth, youth who left school without a secondary school diploma, formerly incarcerated or court-involved youth, youth who are children of an incarcerated parent, youth in foster care (including youth aging out of foster care), migrant youth, and other youth who are neither enrolled in secondary or postsecondary school or participating in the labor market.”
“421. Online service platform
“(a) Establishment—The Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation shall establish an online service platform with a gateway to connect volunteers in the National Senior Service Corps with service projects and enable the volunteers to carry out distance volunteer services. The platform shall be linked to and placed prominently on the website of the Corporation. The Corporation may enter into a contract with a public entity to create the platform.
“(b) Training resources and information
“(1) In general—The Corporation shall provide training resources, information, and guidance for the volunteers on the platform.
“(2) Information—The Corporation shall provide information to regional offices of the Corporation about how to get volunteers in the National Senior Service Corps connected to the platform through the gateway.
“(3) Guidance—The Corporation shall issue guidance for the regional offices about how to transfer the programs of the National Senior Service Corps to the platform.
“(4) Outreach—The Corporation shall provide outreach services to promote the platform including outreach to institutions of higher education, the Department of Veterans Affairs for mentorship projects, and State and local governments for community engagement projects.”
“(4) Outreach and promotion campaign
“(A) In general—In carrying out public awareness functions under this subsection, the Corporation shall carry out an outreach and promotion campaign to promote programs under the national service laws with opportunities to respond to the COVID–19 public health emergency, with the goal of maximizing awareness of those programs among individuals ages 17 through 30.
“(B) Report—The Corporation shall prepare and submit to Congress a report that—
“(i) evaluates the outreach and promotion campaign; and
“(ii) contains—
“(I) an analysis of the measures and resources that would be required for the Corporation effectively to notify individuals who are ages 17 through 30 every 2 years of opportunities under the national service laws and steps to take to apply for those opportunities;
“(II) a description of how the Corporation would ensure those measures would enable the Corporation to provide that notification to targeted individuals from diverse geographic areas, including individuals who are ages 17 through 30 living in rural areas and on Indian lands (as defined in section 3 of the Native American Business Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302)); and
“(III) a recommendation regarding whether the Corporation should make the notifications described in subclause (I).”
8. Ensuring agility
“(c) COVID–19 Response—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an entity that receives assistance from the Corporation for any program under the national service laws (including a State Commission and an entity receiving subgrant funds) during the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period shall not be subject to any requirements to provide matching funds for any such program, and the Federal share of such assistance for a recipient (including for a State Commission and a subgrant recipient) may be 100 percent.”
“(d) Direct placements during the COVID–19 response and recovery period
“(1) In General—Notwithstanding section 178(h), during the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period, the Corporation shall implement a pilot program allowing State Commissions to directly place a portion of individuals who have approved national service positions in State national service programs in a manner to be determined by the Corporation.
“(2) Report—The Corporation shall prepare and submit a report to Congress at the end of the pilot program described in paragraph (1), containing recommendations about whether and how to continue such a program of direct placements.”
“(f)
“(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, during the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period, the Director may enroll full-time VISTA associates in a program, during any months of the year, under such terms and conditions as the Director shall determine to be appropriate. Such individuals shall be assigned to projects that address the needs of underserved communities as a result of the COVID–19 public health emergency.
“(2) In preparing reports relating to programs under this Act, the Director shall report on participants, costs, and accomplishments under the program under this subsection separately.
“(3) The limitation on funds appropriated for grants and contracts, as contained in section 108, shall not apply to the program under this subsection.”
“(c) Rule for COVID–19 response and recovery period—Notwithstanding subsection (a), during the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period, in order to address the needs of underserved communities related to the COVID–19 pandemic, of funds appropriated for the purpose of this part under section 501, not more than 75 percent may be obligated for the direct cost of supporting volunteers in programs and projects (including new programs and projects that begin after the date of enactment of the Pandemic Response and Opportunity Through National Service Act) carried out pursuant to this part, and such funds may be obligated regardless of when grant recipients commenced such programs and projects.”
“603. COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period augmentation and expansion grants
“During the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period, the Corporation may award noncompetitive augmentation and expansion grants, at such time and in such manner as the Corporation determines appropriate.”
“(g) Term of service during COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period—Notwithstanding the aggregate limit under subsection (c), during the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period, a participant may be eligible for 2 terms of service and may receive a national service educational award for each of those 2 terms of service.”
“(1) $7,500; and
“(2) the living allowance established under section 140(b).”
“(c) Seasonal program—Persons desiring to participate in the seasonal national service program shall enter into an agreement with the Director to participate in the Corps for a period of not less than 3 months and not more than 6 months, as specified by the Director.”
“229. COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period
“(a) Age requirements—Notwithstanding section 201(a), during the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period, in order to address the critical needs of local communities across the country as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic, individuals who are 45 years of age or older may be enrolled as volunteers to provide services under part A.
“(b) Income requirements—Notwithstanding section 211(d), during the COVID–19 emergency response and recovery period, the terms “low-income person” and “person of low income” under such section shall mean any person whose income is not more than 400 percent of the poverty line defined in section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) and adjusted by the Director in the manner described in such section.”
9. Authorizations of appropriations
“(A) $14,000,000,000, to provide financial assistance under subtitle C of title I; and
“(B) $7,525,000,000, to provide national service educational awards under subtitle D of title I for the total of the number of participants described in section 121(f)(1) for fiscal years 2020 through 2023.”
“(A) increase the number of the approved positions to 750,000 over the period of fiscal years 2021 through 2023; and
“(B) ensure that the increase described in subparagraph (A) is achieved through an appropriate balance of full- and part-time service positions;”
“(C) Outreach and promotion campaign for COVID–19 response opportunities—Of the amounts appropriated under subparagraph (A), $10,000,000 shall be made available to carry out a outreach and promotion campaign under section 193A(g)(4).”
“(e) Online service resources—There are authorized to be appropriated, to develop online service resources to carry out parts A, B, C, and E of title II, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.”