[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6315 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6315
To provide administrative support and flexibility to the Corporation
for National and Community Service to respond to the COVID-19 national
emergency as declared by the President under the National Emergencies
Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to the
coronavirus.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2020
Mr. Castro of Texas (for himself and Mr. Guthrie) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide administrative support and flexibility to the Corporation
for National and Community Service to respond to the COVID-19 national
emergency as declared by the President under the National Emergencies
Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to the
coronavirus.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``COVID-19 National Service Response
Act''.
SEC. 2. COVID-19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOR THE CORPORATION FOR
NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE.
(a) Accrual of Service Hours.--
(1) Accrual through other service hours.--
(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973
(42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.) or the National and Community
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.), the
Corporation for National and Community Service shall
allow an individual described in subparagraph (B) to
accrue other service hours that will count toward the
number of hours needed for the individual's education
award.
(B) Affected individuals.--Subparagraph (A) shall
apply to any individual serving in a position eligible
for an educational award under subtitle D of title I of
the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 12601 et seq.)--
(i) who is performing limited service due
to COVID-19; or
(ii) whose position has been suspended or
placed on hold due to COVID-19.
(2) Provisions in case of early exit.--In any case where an
individual serving in a position eligible for an educational
award under subtitle D of title I of the National and Community
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.) was required to
exit the position early at the direction of the Corporation for
National and Community Service, the Chief Executive Officer of
the Corporation for National and Community Service may--
(A) deem such individual as having met the
requirements of the position; and
(B) award the individual the full value of the
educational award under such subtitle for which the
individual would otherwise have been eligible.
(b) Availability of Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, all funds made available to the Corporation for National and
Community Service under any Act, including the amounts appropriated to
the Corporation under the headings ``OPERATING EXPENSES'', ``SALARIES
AND EXPENSES'', and ``OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL'' under the
heading ``Corporation for National and Community Service'' under title
IV of Division A of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020
(Public Law 116-94), shall remain available for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2021.
(c) No Required Return of Grant Funds.--Notwithstanding section
129(l)(3)(A)(i) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 12581(l)(3)(A)(i)), the Chief Executive Officer of the
Corporation for National and Community Service may permit fixed-amount
grant recipients under such section 129(l) to maintain a pro rata
amount of grant funds, at the discretion of the Corporation for
National and Community Service, for participants who exited, were
suspended, or are serving in a limited capacity due to COVID-19, to
enable the grant recipients to maintain operations and to accept
participants.
(d) Extension of Terms and Age Limits.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the Corporation for National and Community Service
may extend the term of service (for a period not to exceed the 1-year
period immediately following the end of the national emergency) or
waive any upper age limit (except in no case shall the maximum age
exceed 26 years of age) for national service programs carried out by
the National Civilian Community Corps under subtitle E of title I of
the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12611 et
seq.), and the participants in such programs, for the purposes of--
(1) addressing disruptions due to COVID-19; and
(2) minimizing the difficulty in returning to full
operation due to COVID-19 on such programs and participants.
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