I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3845 

To authorize a grant program that strengthens the capacity of community 

development financial institutions through alignment with national service 

participants. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. MCADAMS, Mr. STIVERS, 

Miss RICE of New York, Ms. PORTER, Mr. HIMES, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 

SCHNEIDER, Mr. PERLMUTTER, and Mrs. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

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: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 3845 IH

1 (1) There exists a network of over 1,000 Treas2 ury-certified community development financial insti3 tutions located in all 50 States, the District of Co4 lumbia, Guam, and the Commonwealth of Puerto 

5 Rico. 

6 (2) Community development financial institu7 tions are mission-driven financial lenders that pro8 vide critical and responsible financial products and 

9 services that benefit low-income and distressed com10 munities, economically disadvantaged people, and 

11 community businesses. 

12 (3) Community development financial institu13 tions need more talent and human capacity to better 

14 meet the needs of the low-income and distressed 

15 communities, economically disadvantaged popula16 tions, and community businesses that they serve. 

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

18 through the Corporation for National and Commu19 nity Service, are national, State, and local service 

20 programs provided through a network that connects 

21 over 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service 

22 to improve lives, strengthen communities, and in23 spire civic engagement. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 3845 IH

1 (B) Economic opportunity is one of the Cor2 poration’s focus areas for national service corps or 

3 programs. 

4 (5)(A) Community development financial insti5 tutions and national service programs each engage 

6 local residents and community partners to improve 

7 community safety, health, housing, and economic op8 portunities, and to meet community-identified needs. 

9 (B) Residents of low-income communities, espe10 cially youth and young adults, can be empowered 

11 through their national service, and can help provide 

12 future leadership for community development finan13 cial institutions and for the communities they serve. 

14 (6) The Corporation for National and Commu15 nity Service has engaged in partnerships, similar to 

16 the partnership created under this Act, with Federal 

17 agencies such as the Department of Transportation, 

18 the Department of Education, the Department of 

19 Justice, and the Forest Service. 

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

21 (1) create a partnership between the Corpora22 tion for National and Community Service and the 

23 Department of the Treasury to connect the work of 

24 covered community development financial institu25 tions with passionate and dedicated national service 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 3845 IH

1 participants, including volunteers in the National 

2 Senior Service Corps; 

3 (2) strengthen the capacity of covered commu4 nity development financial institutions to provide 

5 services, which services may include financial coun6 seling, financial services, job placement, small busi7 ness financing, affordable rental housing financing, 

8 commercial facility financing, community facility fi9 nancing, single family home financing, and fore10 closure prevention services; 

11 (3) expand the direct services provided by cov12 ered community development financial institutions; 

13 and 

14 (4) deploy national service participants, includ15 ing volunteers in the National Senior Service Corps, 

16 in impactful national service that aligns with objec17 tives in the Corporation’s economic opportunity 

18 focus area. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.—The term 

22 ‘‘Chief Executive Officer’’ means the Chief Executive 

23 Officer of the Corporation for National and Commu24 nity Service appointed under section 193 of the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3845.IH H3845

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 3845 IH

1 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

2 U.S.C. 12651c). 

3 (2) COVERED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FI4 NANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘covered commu5 nity development financial institution’’ means any 

6 nonprofit entity that meets the definition of a com7 munity development financial institution in section 

8 103 of the Community Development Banking and 

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

10 and is certified as a community development finan11 cial institution by the Department of the Treasury. 

12 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti13 ty’’ means— 

14 (A) a covered community development fi15 nancial institution with an approved application 

16 under section 5; or 

17 (B) an organization, with an approved ap18 plication under section 5, that places partici19 pants with covered community development fi20 nancial institutions and provides technical man21 agement to those institutions. 

22 (4) PARTICIPANT.— 

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

24 means an individual in an approved national 

25 service position. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 3845 IH

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

2 considered to be an employee of an eligible enti3 ty or a covered community development finan4 cial institution receiving assistance under this 

5 Act. 

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

7 site’’ means the location of the covered community 

8 development financial institution at which a partici9 pant shall be placed for service. 

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

11 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

12 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT FOR THE ECONOMIC 

13 MOBILITY CORPS ACT OF 2019. 

14 (a) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.— 

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

16 shall enter into an interagency agreement under sec17 tion 121(b)(6) of the National and Community Serv18 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)(6)) with the 

19 Secretary that is similar to an interagency agree20 ment described in section 121(b)(1) of such Act (42 

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

22 described in section 5, except that funds appro23 priated under this Act may be used as if appro24 priated for the purposes for which funds may be 

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


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 3845 IH

1 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

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

3 this Act, the provisions of the National and Commu4 nity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.), 

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

6 121(b) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)), that apply 

7 to a national service program supported under that 

8 section 121(b) shall apply to the grant program de9 scribed in section 5. 

10 (2) AMENDMENT TO THE NCSA.—Section 

11 121(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)) is amend12 ed by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(6) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN14 STITUTION GRANT INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.— 

15 Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Corporation 

16 shall enter into an interagency agreement similar to 

17 an interagency agreement described in paragraph 

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

19 subsection regarding the community development fi20 nancial institution grant program described in sec21 tion 5 of the Economic Mobility Corps Act of 

22 2019.’’. 

23 (b) APPROVED NATIONAL SERVICE POSITIONS.— 

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

25 shall approve positions for Economic Mobility Corps 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•HR 3845 IH

1 projects as approved national service positions in ac2 cordance with subtitle C of title I of the National 

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

4 12571 et seq.). 

5 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF ASSISTANCE AND AP6 PROVED POSITIONS UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in this 

7 Act shall be construed to affect the distribution of 

8 assistance or approved national service positions 

9 under section 129 of the National and Community 

10 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12581). Funds ap11 propriated under section 8 shall be used for the 

12 costs associated with that assistance or those posi13 tions, for the program carried out under section 5. 

14 (c) TREATMENT OF FUNDS APPROPRIATED.— 

15 (1) NATIONAL SERVICE TRUST.—For purposes 

16 of subsections (a)(1) and (b) of section 145 of the 

17 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

18 U.S.C. 12601(a)(1)), a portion of the funds appro19 priated under this Act, as determined by the Chief 

20 Executive Officer based on the number of partici21 pants selected for Economic Mobility Corps projects, 

22 shall be treated, respectively, as funds appropriated 

23 to the Corporation and made available to carry out 

24 subtitle D of title I of the National and Community 

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


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•HR 3845 IH

1 as funds appropriated to the Trust established under 

2 such section. 

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

4 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 

5 (42 U.S.C. 12606(c)), funds appropriated under this 

6 Act shall be treated as appropriated funds for ap7 proved national service positions. 

8 SEC. 5. ECONOMIC MOBILITY CORPS GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

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

11 competitive basis, to eligible entities to enable such eligible 

12 entities to place participants at placement sites for the 

13 purpose of engaging them in Economic Mobility Corps 

14 projects. 

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

16 under this Act, an entity shall submit an application re17 garding an Economic Mobility Corps project to the Chief 

18 Executive Officer at such time, in such manner, and con19 taining such information, as the Chief Executive Officer 

20 may require, including— 

21 (1) a description of the long-term goals and ob22 jectives for the project involved and the benchmarks 

23 that the eligible entity will use to determine whether 

24 to place participants with a covered community de25 velopment financial institution and to evaluate the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•HR 3845 IH

1 performance of the covered community development 

2 financial institution in carrying out the project; and 

3 (2) the number of participants intended to be 

4 placed with the covered community development fi5 nancial institution, in accordance with thresholds set 

6 by the Chief Executive Officer, with respect to both 

7 the minimum and maximum numbers of participants 

8 that can be placed with a covered community devel9 opment financial institution, including such an insti10 tution that is an eligible entity. 

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

12 Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Sec13 retary, shall give preferential consideration to entities pro14 posing to serve rural communities or veterans. 

15 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

16 (1) ORIENTATION AND RECRUITMENT.—An eli17 gible entity that receives a grant under this section 

18 shall use the funds made available through the 

19 grant— 

20 (A) to develop a training orientation, in 

21 which each selected participant will take part; 

22 and 

23 (B) to identify and encourage individuals, 

24 including those who are residents in the com25 munity to be served or otherwise reflect the deVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3845.IH H3845

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
11 

•HR 3845 IH

1 mographics of the community, to serve as par2 ticipants in community investment, including 

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

4 projects. 

5 (2) ASSISTANCE.—An eligible entity that re6 ceives a grant under this section for an Economic 

7 Mobility Corps project shall use the grant funds to 

8 provide assistance, consistent with subtitle C of title 

9 I of the National and Community Service Act of 

10 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.), for the project, in11 cluding assistance for participants selected for the 

12 project in carrying out the activities described in 

13 paragraph (3). 

14 (3) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out those activi15 ties, each selected participant shall— 

16 (A) strengthen the capacity of, and expand 

17 the direct services provided by, the covered 

18 community development financial institution, 

19 which services may include financial counseling, 

20 financial services, job placement, small business 

21 financing, affordable rental housing financing, 

22 commercial facility financing, community facil23 ity financing, single family home financing, and 

24 foreclosure prevention services; and 

25 (B) provide such direct services. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
12 

•HR 3845 IH

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. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
13 

•HR 3845 IH

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 to read 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 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS