Title: COVID–19 National Service Response Act
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
COVID-19 National Service Response Act
This bill modifies the Corporation for National and Community Service program to respond to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) national emergency.
The corporation shall allow an individual serving in a position eligible for an educational award, who is performing limited service or whose position has been suspended or placed on hold due to COVID-19, to accrue other service hours that will count toward the number of hours needed for the individual's education award.
The bill (1) deems certain individuals who are required to exit such positions early at the direction of the corporation to have met the requirements of the position, and (2) makes certain funds available for FY2021 for the program.
The corporation may (1) permit fixed-amount grant recipients to maintain a pro rata amount of grant funds at the corporation's discretion for participants who exited, were suspended, or are serving in a limited capacity due to COVID-19; and (2) extend the term of service or waive any upper age limit for national service programs carried out by the National Civilian Community Corps for purposes of addressing disruptions, and minimizing the difficulty in returning to full operation, due to COVID-19.

[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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