Courtesy of the American Association of State Service Commissions
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama called on Congress to pass the Serve America Act last evening. The legislation to expand opportunities for all Americans to serve was authored by Senator Edward M Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
“If you are willing to volunteer in your neighborhood or give back to your community or serve your country, we will make sure that you can afford a higher education. And to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations, I ask this Congress to send me the bipartisan legislation that bears the name of Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country – Senator Edward Kennedy,” President Obama said.
The Kennedy-Hatch legislation would expand the number of national service participants to 250,000. The legislation would create a new ServeAmerica Corps program providing formula grants to states and awarding competitive grants to states and nonprofit organizations to fund national service in low-income communities by:
· Clean Energy Service Corps that improve certain clean energy indicators, including energy efficiency and conservation measures;
· Education Corps that improve certain education indicators, including student engagement, achievement, and graduation;
· Healthy Futures Corps that improve certain health indicators, including health care access;
· Opportunity Corps that improve certain opportunity indicators, including financial literacy and access to housing, and employment-related services;
· Encore programs designed to take advantage of the skills of participants age 50 and older.
The bill would create a Volunteer Generation Fund program awarding competitive matching grants to states and nonprofit organizations to increase the availability and capacity of volunteers to address state priorities with regard to areas of national need or work with nonprofit civic entities, including faith-based organizations, to address such needs.
The bill would also establish a National Service Reserve Corps of individuals who have completed a term of national service to respond to national disasters and other emergencies.
Senator Kennedy remarked, “I am grateful for the President’s commitment to national service and his generous comments about me. I look forward to passing bipartisan legislation to enable all young Americans to do something for their country. I will continue to stand with President Obama to build a stronger, fairer, more prosperous America in the years to come.”
America’s Service Commissions supports the Serve America Act and reauthorization of the National and Community Service Trust Act. America’s Service Commissions will continue to work with the Obama administration and Congress to expand service opportunities for all Americans and will continue to advocate for state service commissions and national service programs at the state level.
Click here to read the President’s speech and here to watch a video of it.
Click here to read the Serve America legislation.