II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 884 

To authorize a grant program that strengthens the capacity of community 

development financial institutions through alignment with national service 

participants. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize a grant program that strengthens the capacity 

of community development financial institutions through 

alignment with national service participants. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Economic Mobility 

5 Corps Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) There exists a network of over 1,000 Treas9 ury-certified community development financial instiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S884.IS S884

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1 tutions located in all 50 States, the District of Co2 lumbia, Guam, and the Commonwealth of Puerto 

3 Rico. 

4 (2) Community development financial institu5 tions are mission-driven financial lenders that pro6 vide critical and responsible financial products and 

7 services that benefit low-income and distressed com8 munities, economically disadvantaged people, and 

9 community businesses. 

10 (3) Community development financial institu11 tions need more talent and human capacity to better 

12 meet the needs of the low-income and distressed 

13 communities, economically disadvantaged popu14 lations, and community businesses that they serve. 

15 (4)(A) National service programs, carried out 

16 through the Corporation for National and Commu17 nity Service, are national, State, and local service 

18 programs provided through a network that connects 

19 over 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service 

20 to improve lives, strengthen communities, and in21 spire civic engagement. 

22 (B) Economic opportunity is one of the Cor23 poration’s focus areas for national service corps or 

24 programs. 


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1 (5)(A) Community development financial insti2 tutions and national service programs each engage 

3 local residents and community partners to improve 

4 community safety, health, housing, and economic op5 portunities, and to meet community-identified needs. 

6 (B) Residents of low-income communities, espe7 cially youth and young adults, can be empowered 

8 through their national service, and can help provide 

9 future leadership for community development finan10 cial institutions and for the communities they serve. 

11 (6) The Corporation for National and Commu12 nity Service has engaged in partnerships, similar to 

13 the partnership created under this Act, with Federal 

14 agencies such as the Department of Transportation, 

15 the Department of Education, the Department of 

16 Justice, and the Forest Service. 

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

18 (1) create a partnership between the Corpora19 tion for National and Community Service and the 

20 Department of the Treasury to connect the work of 

21 covered community development financial institu22 tions with passionate and dedicated national service 

23 participants, including volunteers in the National 

24 Senior Service Corps; 


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1 (2) strengthen the capacity of covered commu2 nity development financial institutions to provide 

3 services, which services may include financial coun4 seling, financial services, job placement, small busi5 ness financing, affordable rental housing financing, 

6 commercial facility financing, community facility fi7 nancing, single family home financing, and fore8 closure prevention services; 

9 (3) expand the direct services provided by cov10 ered community development financial institutions; 

11 and 

12 (4) deploy national service participants, includ13 ing volunteers in the National Senior Service Corps, 

14 in impactful national service that aligns with objec15 tives in the Corporation’s economic opportunity 

16 focus area. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.—The term 

20 ‘‘Chief Executive Officer’’ means the Chief Executive 

21 Officer of the Corporation for National and Commu22 nity Service appointed under section 193 of the Na23 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

24 U.S.C. 12651c). 


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1 (2) COVERED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FI2 NANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘covered commu3 nity development financial institution’’ means any 

4 nonprofit entity that meets the definition of a com5 munity development financial institution in section 

6 103 of the Community Development Banking and 

7 Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702) 

8 and is certified as a community development finan9 cial institution by the Department of the Treasury. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means— 

12 (A) a covered community development fi13 nancial institution with an approved application 

14 under section 5; or 

15 (B) an organization, with an approved ap16 plication under section 5, that places partici17 pants with covered community development fi18 nancial institutions and provides technical man19 agement to those institutions. 

20 (4) PARTICIPANT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘participant’’ 

22 means an individual in an approved national 

23 service position. 

24 (B) RULE.—A participant shall not be 

25 considered to be an employee of an eligible entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S884.IS S884

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1 ty or a covered community development finan2 cial institution receiving assistance under this 

3 Act. 

4 (5) PLACEMENT SITE.—The term ‘‘placement 

5 site’’ means the location of the covered community 

6 development financial institution at which a partici7 pant shall be placed for service. 

8 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

10 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT FOR THE ECONOMIC 

11 MOBILITY CORPS ACT OF 2018. 

12 (a) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Executive Officer 

14 shall enter into an interagency agreement under sec15 tion 121(b)(6) of the National and Community Serv16 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)(6)) with the 

17 Secretary that is similar to an interagency agree18 ment described in section 121(b)(1) of such Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 12571(b)(1)), regarding the grant program 

20 described in section 5, except that funds appro21 priated under this Act may be used as if appro22 priated for the purposes for which funds may be 

23 provided through grants under section 121(a) of the 

24 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

25 U.S.C. 12571(a)). Except as otherwise provided in 


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1 this Act, the provisions of the National and Commu2 nity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.), 

3 other than paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 

4 121(b) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)), that apply 

5 to a national service program supported under that 

6 section 121(b) shall apply to the grant program de7 scribed in section 5. 

8 (2) AMENDMENT TO THE NCSA.—Section 

9 121(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)) is amend10 ed by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(6) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN12 STITUTION GRANT INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.— 

13 Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Corporation 

14 shall enter into an interagency agreement similar to 

15 an interagency agreement described in paragraph 

16 (1) with the Secretary of the Treasury under this 

17 subsection regarding the community development fi18 nancial institution grant program described in sec19 tion 5 of the Economic Mobility Corps Act of 

20 2019.’’. 

21 (b) APPROVED NATIONAL SERVICE POSITIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Executive Officer 

23 shall approve positions for Economic Mobility Corps 

24 projects as approved national service positions in ac25 cordance with subtitle C of title I of the National 


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1 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

2 12571 et seq.). 

3 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF ASSISTANCE AND AP4 PROVED POSITIONS UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in this 

5 Act shall be construed to affect the distribution of 

6 assistance or approved national service positions 

7 under section 129 of the National and Community 

8 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12581). Funds ap9 propriated under section 8 shall be used for the 

10 costs associated with that assistance or those posi11 tions, for the program carried out under section 5. 

12 (c) TREATMENT OF FUNDS APPROPRIATED.— 

13 (1) NATIONAL SERVICE TRUST.—For purposes 

14 of subsection (a)(1) and (b) of section 145 of the 

15 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

16 U.S.C. 12601(a)(1)), a portion of the funds appro17 priated under this Act, as determined by the Chief 

18 Executive Officer based on the number of partici19 pants selected for Economic Mobility Corps projects, 

20 shall be treated, respectively, as funds appropriated 

21 to the Corporation and made available to carry out 

22 subtitle D of title I of the National and Community 

23 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.) and 

24 as funds appropriated to the Trust established under 

25 such section. 


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1 (2) AUDITS.—For purposes of section 149(c) of 

2 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 

3 (42 U.S.C. 12606(c)), funds appropriated under this 

4 Act shall be treated as appropriated funds for ap5 proved national service positions. 

6 SEC. 5. ECONOMIC MOBILITY CORPS GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Executive Officer, in 

8 consultation with the Secretary, shall award grants, on a 

9 competitive basis, to eligible entities to enable such eligible 

10 entities to place participants at placement sites for the 

11 purpose of engaging them in Economic Mobility Corps 

12 projects. 

13 (b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

14 under this Act, an entity shall submit an application re15 garding an Economic Mobility Corps project to the Chief 

16 Executive Officer at such time, in such manner, and con17 taining such information, as the Chief Executive Officer 

18 may require, including— 

19 (1) a description of the long-term goals and ob20 jectives for the project involved and the benchmarks 

21 that the eligible entity will use to determine whether 

22 to place participants with a covered community de23 velopment financial institution and to evaluate the 

24 performance of the covered community development 

25 financial institution in carrying out the project; and 


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1 (2) the number of participants intended to be 

2 placed with the covered community development fi3 nancial institution, in accordance with thresholds set 

4 by the Chief Executive Officer, with respect to both 

5 the minimum and maximum numbers of participants 

6 that can be placed with a covered community devel7 opment financial institution, including such an insti8 tution that is an eligible entity. 

9 (c) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this Act, the 

10 Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Sec11 retary, shall give preferential consideration to entities pro12 posing to serve rural communities or veterans. 

13 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 (1) ORIENTATION AND RECRUITMENT.—An eli15 gible entity that receives a grant under this section 

16 shall use the funds made available through the 

17 grant— 

18 (A) to develop a training orientation, in 

19 which each selected participant will take part; 

20 and 

21 (B) to identify and encourage individuals, 

22 including those who are residents in the com23 munity to be served or otherwise reflect the de24 mographics of the community, to serve as par25 ticipants in community investment, including 


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1 the activities described in paragraph (3), in the 

2 projects. 

3 (2) ASSISTANCE.—An eligible entity that re4 ceives a grant under this section for an Economic 

5 Mobility Corps project shall use the grant funds to 

6 provide assistance, consistent with subtitle C of title 

7 I of the National and Community Service Act of 

8 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.), for the project, in9 cluding assistance for participants selected for the 

10 project in carrying out the activities described in 

11 paragraph (3). 

12 (3) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out those activi13 ties, each selected participant shall— 

14 (A) strengthen the capacity of, and expand 

15 the direct services provided by, the covered 

16 community development financial institution, 

17 which services may include financial counseling, 

18 financial services, job placement, small business 

19 financing, affordable rental housing financing, 

20 commercial facility financing, community facil21 ity financing, single family home financing, and 

22 foreclosure prevention services; and 

23 (B) provide such direct services. 


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1 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt of any 

3 funds for a project under this Act, each eligible entity shall 

4 agree to prepare and submit a report at such time, in such 

5 manner, and containing such information as the Chief Ex6 ecutive Officer, in consultation with the Secretary, may 

7 require. 

8 (b) CONTENT.—In preparing the report the eligible 

9 entity shall, at a minimum— 

10 (1) collect and present data on the degree to 

11 which the covered community development financial 

12 institution has made progress toward meeting the 

13 long-term goals and objectives described in the enti14 ty’s application and the performance of the covered 

15 community development financial institution on the 

16 benchmarks described in the application; 

17 (2) collect and present demographic data about 

18 the participants; and 

19 (3) describe the target area and, if appropriate, 

20 target population engaged and served by the covered 

21 community development financial institution, includ22 ing whether the covered community development fi23 nancial institution serves a rural community or vet24 erans. 


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1 SEC. 7. ECONOMIC MOBILITY VISTA ACTIVITIES. 

2 Section 103(a)(9) of the Domestic Volunteer Service 

3 Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4953(a)(9)) is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘(9) in developing and carrying out— 

6 ‘‘(A) financial literacy, financial planning, 

7 budgeting, saving, and reputable credit accessi8 bility programs in low-income communities, in9 cluding those programs that educate individuals 

10 about financing home ownership and higher 

11 education; and 

12 ‘‘(B) foreclosure prevention programs (in13 cluding programs at community development fi14 nancial institutions under section 103 of the 

15 Community Development Banking and Finan16 cial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702) 

17 and at other nonprofit organizations), which 

18 programs are in low-income communities and 

19 educate individuals about financing home own20 ership and higher education;’’. 

21 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Cor23 poration $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and each of the 

24 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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