I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1154 

To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to improve 

the educational awards provided for national service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2009 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. FATTAH) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government 

Reform and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 

to improve the educational awards provided for national 

service, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘AmeriCorps: Together 

5 Improving Our Nation Act’’or as the ‘‘ACTION Act’’. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1154 IH

1 SEC. 2. AMOUNT OF NATIONAL SERVICE EDUCATIONAL 

2 AWARD. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 147(a) of the National 

4 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12603(a)) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘equal to 90 percent of’’ and all 

7 that follows and inserting the following: ‘‘equal to— 

8 ‘‘(1) for fiscal year 2010, $6585; and 

9 ‘‘(2) except as provided in paragraph (1), for 

10 each fiscal year, an amount equal to the greater of— 

11 ‘‘(A) the average cost of tuition and fees 

12 (determined under section 472 of the Higher 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ll) for 

14 the preceding fiscal year for a full-time student 

15 at a 4-year public institution of higher edu16 cation that receives funds under title IV of that 

17 Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); and 

18 ‘‘(B) the amount determined for the pre19 ceding fiscal year under this subsection.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) takes effect 

21 on October 1, 2009. 

22 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF NATIONAL SERVICE EDUCATIONAL 

23 AWARD. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 147 of the National and 

25 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12603) is 

26 amended by adding at the end the following: 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1154 IH

1 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT.—The amount of a national service 

2 educational award provided to an individual under this 

3 subtitle shall not be included in the gross income of the 

4 individual for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

7 subsection (a) shall apply to national service educational 

8 awards disbursed after December 31, 2009. 

9 SEC. 4. NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS TO IMPLEMENT 

10 PRIORITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

11 Section 121(b) of the National and Community Serv12 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)) is amended by add13 ing at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(5) PRIORITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In 

15 carrying out this subsection, the Corporation may 

16 enter into a contract or cooperative agreement with 

17 another Federal agency to support a national service 

18 program, carried out by the Federal agency, to im19 plement the priorities of the Federal agency (not20 withstanding section 122).’’. 

21 SEC. 5. CABINET LEVEL STATUS FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF22 FICER. 

23 (a) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.—Section 101 of title 

24 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following: 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1154 IH

1 ‘‘The Corporation for National and Community 

2 Service.’’. 

3 (b) COMPENSATION.—Section 193 of the National 

4 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12651c) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘level III’’ and inserting ‘‘level 

7 I’’; and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘section 5314’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘section 5312’’. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS