Humanitarian Tech Corps Act

Bill: 118-s-5331
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT]
Introduced: 2024-11-14
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Latest action: action_date: 2024-11-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Summaries:
action_date: 2024-11-14
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Humanitarian Tech Corps Act</strong></p><p>This bill establishes a grant program for colleges and universities to offer scholarships to students studying computer science, technology, and related topics, and who will seek post-graduate employment with a federal humanitarian agency or partner organization. Scholarships shall cover tuition and fees for up to four years of a degree program and provide a separate living stipend. The National Science Foundation (NSF) shall administer the grant program in coordination with the Office of Personnel Management and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).</p><p>As a condition of the scholarship, recipients who have completed their degree program must work at USAID, another federal humanitarian agency, or an approved non-governmental partner to USAID for a period at least equal to the duration of the scholarship. If a scholarship recipient fails to complete their degree or maintain the required post-graduation employment, the recipient shall repay some or all of the scholarship funds. Following completion of the employment obligation, a recipient’s federal appointment may be converted to a career or term appointment.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5331 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 14, 2024 Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To create a National Science Foundation scholarship-for-service Humanitarian Tech Corps, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Humanitarian Tech Corps Act . 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Government must broadly invest in the technological innovation and talent pipeline of the United States, in a manner that is beyond traditional focus areas, in order to— (1) develop public interest technology expertise; and (2) ensure Federal agencies, especially agencies tasked with critical humanitarian missions, have the capacity to uniquely and meaningfully leverage leading-edge technology to improve their operations. 3. Federal humanitarian technology scholarship-for-service program (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Administrator The term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. (2) Covered degree The term covered degree means a baccalaureate or postgraduate degree that is in— (A) computer science; (B) data science or data analytics; or (C) any other science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field that, as determined by the Administrator under subsection (j)(1)(A) and shared with the Director for program facilitation, enables humanitarian operations and technology-related modernization efforts. (3) Covered position The term covered position , when used with respect to a scholarship recipient, means a position of employment (including a civil service or foreign service position with a qualifying agency)— (A) for which the scholarship recipient is qualified; (B) that— (i) requires a covered degree; or (ii) does not explicitly require a covered degree but, as determined by the Administrator under subsection (j)(1)(A)(ii) and shared with the Director for program facilitation, directly supports strictly humanitarian operations, such as an analysis, management, or executive position or another operational position that provides such direct support; and (C) that is with a qualifying agency or a qualifying organization or nongovernmental agency. (4) Director The term Director means the Director of the National Science Foundation. (5) Eligible student The term eligible student means an individual who— (A) is a citizen of the United States; and (B) is a full-time student enrolled in a program of study leading to a covered degree at a qualifying institution. (6) Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship The term Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship means a scholarship described in subsection (c )(1). (7) Qualifying agency The term qualifying agency means— (A) the United States Agency for International Development; or (B) another agency, as determined by the Administrator under subsection (j)(1)(B) and shared with the Director for program facilitation. (8) Qualifying institution The term qualifying institution means an institution of higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001(a) ). (9) Qualifying organization or nongovernmental agency The term qualifying organization or nongovernmental agency means an organization or nongovernmental agency identified by the Administrator under subsection (j)(1)(C) and shared with the Director for program facilitation. (10) Scholarship recipient The term scholarship recipient means an eligible student who receives a Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship and enters into an agreement under subsection (e). (b) Program established The Director, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Administrator, shall establish a Federal humanitarian technology scholarship-for-service program (referred to in this section as the Humanitarian Tech Corps Program ) to recruit and train the next generation of professionals needed to meet the humanitarian technology needs of the Federal Government. (c) Program description and components The Humanitarian Tech Corps Program shall— (1) award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to qualifying institutions of higher education to enable the qualifying institutions to provide Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarships to eligible students; (2) in consultation with the United States Agency for International Development, provide the scholarship recipients with summer internship opportunities or other meaningful temporary appointments serving humanitarian purposes in qualifying agencies or qualifying organizations or nongovernmental agencies; and (3) prioritize the placement of scholarship recipients fulfilling the post-award employment obligation under this section in covered positions in a manner that ensures— (A) for not less than the first year of such post-award employment obligation required under subsection (e)(1)(A), all scholarship recipients are placed in a covered position with a qualifying agency; and (B) that after the completion of the first year of such employment obligation, scholarship recipients may obtain employment in covered positions at a qualifying organization or nongovernmental agency. (d) Scholarship amounts; scholarship recipient selection (1) Scholarship amounts Each Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship shall be in an amount that covers the scholarship recipient’s tuition and fees at the qualifying institution under subsection (c)(1) for not more than 4 years and provides the scholarship recipient with an additional living stipend. (2) Selection In selecting eligible students to receive Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarships, a qualifying institution participating in the Humanitarian Tech Corps program shall not exclusively consider the technical background or prior education of the eligible students, but shall also take into consideration other experiences of the eligible students that may transfer well to humanitarian work. (e) Agreement (1) In general As a condition of receiving a Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship, an eligible student shall enter into an agreement with the qualifying institution providing the scholarship under which the eligible student receiving the scholarship— (A) agrees to work for a period equal to the duration of the scholarship, following receipt of the student’s degree, in a covered position; (B) accepts and acknowledges the conditions of support under paragraph (2); and (C) accepts the repayment requirements under subsection (f) and all other terms and conditions of the Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship. (2) Conditions of support (A) Provision of documentation and contact information As a condition of receiving a Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship, an eligible student shall agree to provide the Office of Personnel Management (in coordination with the National Science Foundation) and the qualifying institution with annual verifiable documentation of post-award employment and up-to-date contact information. (B) Other conditions A scholarship recipient shall be liable to the United States as provided under subsection (f) if the individual— (i) fails to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing, as determined by the Director, at the applicable qualifying institution; (ii) is dismissed from such qualifying institution for disciplinary reasons; (iii) withdraws from the covered degree program before completing the program; (iv) declares that the individual does not intend to fulfill the post-award employment obligation under this section; (v) fails to maintain or fulfill any of the post-graduation or post-award obligations or requirements of the individual; or (vi) fails to fulfill the requirements of subparagraph (A). (f) Repayment (1) Amount of repayment (A) Less than 1 year of service If a circumstance described in subsection (e)(2)(B) occurs before the completion of 1 year of a post-award employment obligation under this section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under this section shall— (i) be repaid; or (ii) be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance with paragraph (3). (B) 1 or more years of service If a circumstance described in clause (iv) or (v) of subsection (e)(2)(B) occurs after the completion of 1 or more years of a post-award employment obligation under this section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under this section, reduced by the ratio of the number of years of service completed divided by the number of years of service required, shall— (i) be repaid; or (ii) be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance with paragraph (3). (2) Collection of repayment (A) In general In the event that a scholarship recipient is required to repay a Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship award, the qualifying institution providing the scholarship shall— (i) determine the repayment amount and notify the recipient, the Director, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management of the amount owed; and (ii) collect the repayment amount within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Director, or treat the repayment amount as a loan in accordance with paragraph (3). (B) Returned to treasury (i) In general Except as provided in clause (ii), any repayment collected under this paragraph shall be returned to the Treasury of the United States. (ii) Retained percentage A qualifying institution may retain a percentage of any repayment the institution collects under this subsection to defray administrative costs associated with the collection. The Director shall establish a single, fixed percentage that will apply to all qualifying institutions of higher education under this section. (3) Loan treatment A loan described in subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) of paragraph (1) shall— (A) be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq. ); and (B) be subject to repayment, together with interest thereon accruing from the date of the scholarship award, in accordance with terms and conditions specified by the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Education) in regulations promulgated to carry out this subsection. (4) Exceptions The Director may provide for the partial or total waiver or suspension of any service or payment obligation by a scholarship recipient— (A) whenever compliance by the scholarship recipient with the obligation is impossible or would involve extreme hardship to the scholarship recipient; or (B) if enforcement of such obligation with respect to the scholarship recipient would be unconscionable. (g) Monitoring compliance As a condition of participating in the program, a qualifying institution shall— (1) enter into an agreement with the Director to monitor the compliance of scholarship recipients with respect to their post-award employment obligations; and (2) provide to the Director and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, on an annual basis, the post-award employment documentation required under subsection (e)(2)(A) for scholarship recipients supported by the qualifying institution, during the period beginning upon the receipt of the Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship and ending upon the completion of the scholarship recipient’s post-award employment obligations. (h) Hiring authority (1) Appointment in excepted service Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, a qualifying agency shall appoint in the excepted service an individual who has completed the eligible degree program for which a scholarship was awarded. (2) Noncompetitive conversion Except as provided in paragraph (4), upon fulfillment of the service term, an employee appointed under paragraph (1) may be converted noncompetitively to term, career-conditional, or career appointment. (3) Timing of conversion A qualifying agency may noncompetitively convert a term employee appointed under paragraph (2) to a career-conditional or career appointment before the term appointment expires. (4) Authority to decline conversion A qualifying agency may decline to make the noncompetitive conversion or appointment under paragraph (2) for cause. (i) Public information (1) Evaluation The Director, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall periodically evaluate and make public, in a manner that protects the personally identifiable information of scholarship recipients, information on the success of recruiting individuals for scholarships under this section and on hiring and retaining those individuals in the humanitarian technology workforce, including information on— (A) placement rates; (B) where students are placed, including job titles and descriptions; (C) salary ranges for students not released from obligations under this section; (D) how long after graduation students are placed; (E) how long students stay in the positions they enter upon graduation; (F) how many students are released from obligations; and (G) what, if any, remedial training is required. (2) Reports The Director, in coordination with the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit, not less frequently than once every 2 years, to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives, a report that includes— (A) the results of the evaluation under paragraph (1); (B) an explanation of any disparity in reporting between scholarship recipients and their respective qualifying institutions; and (C) any recent statistics regarding the size, composition, and educational requirements of the Federal humanitarian technology workforce. (3) Resources The Director, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall provide consolidated and user-friendly online resources for prospective scholarship recipients, including, to the extent practicable— (A) searchable, up-to-date, and accurate information about participating qualifying institutions and job opportunities related to Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarships; and (B) a description of humanitarian careers for science, technology, mathematics, or engineering students. (j) Administrative responsibilities (1) USAID administrator duties (A) Decisions regarding humanitarian operations By not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, after consultation with the Director, shall— (i) define the concepts of humanitarian operations and technological modernization efforts for purposes of subsection (a)(2)(C); (ii) determine which positions directly support humanitarian operations for purposes of subsection (a)(3)(B)(ii); and (iii) identify the covered degrees that the Administrator determines meet the requirements of subsection (a)(2)(C). (B) Identification of qualifying agencies (i) In general By not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, after consultation with the Director, shall identify any other agency, entity, office, or commission that the Administrator determines is a qualifying agency for purposes of subsection (a)(7)(B). (ii) Requirements The Administrator shall identify an agency, entity, office, or commission as a qualifying agency if— (I) the agency, entity, office or commission is— (aa) an Executive agency, as defined in section 101 of title 5, United States Code, with humanitarian initiatives; or (bb) an agency, entity, office, or commission with humanitarian initiatives that is established in the legislative or judicial branch of the Federal Government; and (II) the Administrator determines such identification is appropriate to meet the humanitarian operations needs of the Federal Government. (iii) Special consideration In making the determination under clause (ii)(II) with respect to an agency, entity, office, or commission, the Administrator shall give special consideration to the domestic relief work carried out by the agency, entity, office, or commission. (C) Identification of qualifying organizations or nongovernmental agencies (i) In general By not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, after consultation with the Director, shall identify organizations and nonprofit agencies that qualify to participate in the Humanitarian Tech Corps program, in accordance with subsection (a)(9) and based on the criteria described in clause (ii). (ii) Requirements In order to be qualified for purposes of clause (i), an organization or nonprofit agency shall— (I) be a partner of the United States Agency for International Development; (II) serve humanitarian objectives; and (III) meet any other requirements determined necessary by the Administrator to achieve the purposes of this section. (D) Provision of assistance to the Director By not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide the Director with— (i) the definitions described in subparagraph (A)(i); (ii) a list of the covered degrees in accordance with subparagraph (A)(iii); (iii) a list of the qualifying agencies identified under subparagraph (B); and (iv) a list of the organizations and nonprofit agencies identified as qualifying organizations or nongovernmental agencies under subparagraph (C). (E) Updates On not less than an annual basis, the Administrator shall— (i) review the determinations made under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C); (ii) update any such determinations as needed; and (iii) provide any such updated determinations, or updated definitions or lists described in subparagraph (D), to the Director. (F) Additional assistance In addition to the assistance provided under subparagraphs (A) through (E), the Administrator shall, upon request by the Director, assist the Director with respect to any other aspects of the Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship program that relate to humanitarian operations, in order to enable the Director to be able to focus on technology talent pipeline development through the program. (2) Director duties The Director shall annually consult with the Administrator— (A) regarding the implementation of the Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship program; and (B) to review— (i) the scholarship recipient selection process for the preceding year; and (ii) the ability of the United States Agency for International Development to provide recommendations regarding the Humanitarian Tech Corps program to the National Science Foundation for future selection cycles.