Civic Corps Act of 2023

Bill: 118-hr-5724
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2]
Introduced: 2023-09-26
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Latest action: action_date: 2023-09-26
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5724 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 26, 2023 Mr. Neguse introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a pilot Civic Corps.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Civic Corps Act of 2023 . 2. Civic Corps Section 122(a) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12572(a) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (6) Pilot Civic Corps (A) In general The recipient may carry out national service programs through a pilot Civic Corps that identifies and meets unmet electoral and governance needs within communities through activities such as those described in subparagraph (B) and improves performance on the indicators described in subparagraph (C). (B) Activities A pilot Civic Corps described in this paragraph may carry out activities such as— (i) providing support to State, local, or tribal election officials; (ii) improving voter and civics education; (iii) providing assistance with election administration activities; or (iv) providing educational opportunities for elementary school and secondary school students to better understand the rights and obligations of being an American citizen. (C) Civic corps indicators The indicators for a corps program described in this paragraph are— (i) the rate and ease that State, local, or tribal election officials are able to successfully conduct elections in a timely, efficient, and effective manner; (ii) the rate of student engagement, including student attendance and student behavior, in civic engagement educational opportunities; (iii) improved staff retention in State, local, or tribal election offices; (iv) the rate of participants in the corps program who are from the veteran community; (v) any additional indicator relating to improving civic engagement that the Corporation, in consultation (as appropriate) with the Election Assistance Commission, establishes; or (vi) any additional local indicator (applicable to a particular recipient and on which an improvement in performance is needed) relating to improving election administration or voter engagement that is approved by the Corporation, a State Secretary of State, or a local or tribal election official. (D) Prohibited activities A pilot Civic Corps described in this paragraph may not carry out any of the following activities: (i) Attempting to influence legislation. (ii) Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office. (iii) Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials. (iv) Conducting a voter registration drive, including by using funds under this Act conduct such a drive. (E) Termination A pilot Civic Corps carried out under this paragraph by the recipient shall terminate after a 5-year period, and not more than one recipient described in the matter preceding paragraph (1) may carry out such pilot Civic Corps. .