H.R. 7910 — ACTION for National Service Act

This section provides the table of contents for the Act and specifies that, unless otherwise provided, references to amendments or repeals are to provisions of the National and Community Service Act of 1990.

This section revises the establishment of the Corporation for National and Community Service—which administers national service programs such as AmeriCorps—by renaming it the AmeriCorps Administration and reclassifying it as an Executive department, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 101 (from a Government corporation, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 103). It also adds the AmeriCorps Administration to the statutory list of Executive departments in 5 U.S.C. 101.

This section replaces the Corporation for National and Community Service's 15-member Board of Directors, including ex officio nonvoting members from 11 federal agencies, with a 7-member Advisory Board (to 7 from 15) in the Administration that lacks ex officio members and refers to the Advisory Board as "the Board." The initial Advisory Board consists of voting members of the existing Board who elect to serve, supplemented by Administrator appointments if fewer than seven elect, all serving out predecessors' terms; after those terms and seven replacement appointments, the Board remains at seven members permanently, with no replacements for any remaining initial members. Replacement members are appointed upon term expiration as follows: (1) the first three by the President, including one individual aged 18-25 (from 16-25) with school- or community-based service-learning or program experience and one aged 55 or older who served in the National Senior Corps, programs under title II of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, or similar service programs under subtitle B of title I; (2) one by the Speaker of the House; (3) one by the House minority leader; (4) one by the Senate majority leader; and (5) one by the Senate minority leader. All such members serve 5-year terms, with vacancies filled by the original appointing authority for the remainder of the term. This section further increases required Board meetings to four times each year (from three), including an annual strategic goals review, and specifies eight advisory duties to the Administrator concerning national service program policies, grant recommendations, personnel, research, information dissemination, and proposed changes to national service laws.

This section (1) revises the head of the Corporation for National and Community Service from Chief Executive Officer to Director of the AmeriCorps Administration, appointed by the President with Senate confirmation and holding the same rank and status as the head of an executive department under 5 U.S.C. 101 (i.e., cabinet-level); (2) adds Director duties to make grants or contracts with federal agencies and private nonprofit organizations for volunteer assignments under title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.; i.e., VISTA program, except as provided in section 108) and enter cost-sharing agreements with federal agencies or such organizations for programs under the national service laws that comply with applicable evaluation and performance requirements; (3) authorizes the current Chief Executive Officer to serve as the initial Director; and (4) adds the Director to the temporary presidential succession list under 3 U.S.C. 19(d)(1).

This section revises the national service educational award (i.e., Segal AmeriCorps Education Award) for full-time national service from the maximum aggregate Federal Pell Grant amount to twice the national average yearly cost for in-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions of higher education (from the maximum Pell Grant under 20 U.S.C. 1070a), for the award year of the approved position. (Part-time awards remain at 50% of the full-time amount under revised subsection (a); other award types—partial completion, summer of service, and silver scholars—are unchanged.)

This section directs the Director of the AmeriCorps Administration, using funds made available under section 501(a)(5) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12681(a)(5)), to establish an interagency working group to (1) evaluate and make recommendations regarding a process for determining eligibility for national service educational awards for individuals who participated in national service programs not administered under the National and Community Service Act of 1990 but described in 42 U.S.C. 12573(2); (2) evaluate the feasibility and advisability of granting federal hiring preference under 5 U.S.C. ch. 33 to individuals who completed a term of service in an approved national service position equivalent in duration to that described in section 139(b)(1) of such Act and entitled to the national service educational award under section 147(a)(2) (as amended by section 6); and (3) submit a report to Congress with the results of these evaluations not later than 12 months after enactment.

This section (1) eliminates the Corporation for National and Community Service's existing authority to accept donations of property by amending restrictions in 42 U.S.C. 12651g(a); and (2) establishes the National Service Foundation, a nonprofit corporation with a board of at least six non-federal appointees (chaired by the Corporation's director) to solicit, accept, and administer private gifts of real or personal property (including encumbered property or easements) for the benefit of the Corporation, its activities, or former participants. The Foundation's board may accept and use voluntary, uncompensated services notwithstanding the federal prohibition on voluntary services (31 U.S.C. 1342).

This section establishes the 21st Century American service outreach program to inform individuals ages 17-30 (covered individuals) of national service opportunities. The Corporation for National and Community Service must (1) coordinate with federal and state agencies and other entities to notify each covered individual on their 17th birthday—and every two years thereafter unless they are serving or have opted out—about eligibility for national service programs (i.e., under the National and Community Service Act of 1990 or title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973), application processes, other options such as Peace Corps or military service, and opt-out rights; (2) develop and enable the most effective application process for such programs; and (3) create a long-term strategy to expand national service positions so every eligible applicant receives at least one offer.

This section increases the maximum living allowance for members of the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC)—a residential AmeriCorps program for individuals aged 18-24 performing community service projects—to 200 percent (from 100 percent) of the poverty line applicable to a family of two. It further limits any such increase unless appropriations for the relevant subtitles are sufficient to maintain participant numbers at the prior fiscal year's level, permitting partial increases as funds allow (with the FY2026 amount as baseline).

This section revises authorization of appropriations for national service programs under section 501(a) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 by (1) replacing the prior authorization of such sums as necessary for divisions C (AmeriCorps VISTA, i.e., full-time volunteers addressing poverty) and D (national service educational awards, i.e., Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards) for FY2010 through FY2014 with new authorizations for subtitles C and D of title I—such sums as necessary for subtitle C based on FY2026 participant levels for FY2027 through FY2036, and authorized and appropriated for subtitle D based on FY2026 obligations for FY2027 and subsequent years; (2) adding a new paragraph (7) authorizing such sums as necessary for subtitle K of title I for FY2027 and subsequent years; and (3) updating a cross-reference and redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c). The section further adds a new subsection (b) authorizing additional appropriations to the AmeriCorps CEO for all programs under the national service laws and Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973—including a sense of Congress that funding support at least 1,000,000 participants annually by September 30, 2036 (in addition to amounts under subsection (a))—and directs AmeriCorps to develop and implement (subject to appropriations) a plan for 250,000 approved national service positions in FY2027 increasing annually through FY2036 to meet that goal, with required reports to congressional authorizing committees within one year (on plan status) and eight years (on progress) of enactment.

This section directs the Director of the AmeriCorps Administration to submit to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and Workforce, not later than 90 days after enactment, a report with recommendations for changes to matching funds or share requirements for recipients of AmeriCorps funding to achieve the 10-year goal in 42 U.S.C. 12681(b)(2) and increase national service programs, activities, and participants in underserved communities.

This section excludes from gross income national service educational awards (i.e., Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards) provided under subtitle D of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to participants completing terms of service in AmeriCorps programs. Specifically, (1) it treats such awards as qualified scholarships under IRC §117(e), and (2) it excludes award amounts used for student loan discharge under IRC §108(f)(6). The exclusions apply to taxable years ending after enactment.

This section establishes an exclusion from gross income for living allowances provided to national service participants (i.e., AmeriCorps members and others) under section 140 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990. The exclusion applies to taxable years beginning after the date of enactment.

This section makes conforming amendments throughout the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (i.e., the statutory authority for AmeriCorps national service programs, education awards, service-learning, and the National Civilian Community Corps) to establish and reference the AmeriCorps Administration and its Director (replacing the Corporation for National and Community Service and Chief Executive Officer); retitle the advisory entity as the Advisory Board with a recommendatory (rather than approval) role; and update definitions, headings, cross-references, and Director authorities. Specifically, the section (1) revises section 101 definitions to define Director and Administration, redesignates and reorders paragraphs (1) through (12); (2) replaces "Corporation" with "Administration" (and "corporation" with "administration") in headings and text across service-learning (§§113, 114, 116), National Service Trust (§§121, 122, 129A, 131, 145), and administration (§§172, 178) provisions; (3) strikes §121(f) and updates §122(f)(1)(A) to reference a Board-recommended (rather than Board-approved) strategic plan; (4) changes a §145 cross-reference from "section 196(a)(2)" to "section 199P"; (5) modifies National Civilian Community Corps (§159) to require the Director to review (rather than follow) Board recommendations and strikes §159(b)(3); and (6) updates subtitle G and §§191-193A headings, retitles §192 as "Advisory board" and §192A as "Authorities and duties of the board," replaces "Chief Executive Officer" with "Director," and revises §193A to require the Director to review Board recommendations before submitting plans, budgets, and reports to authorizing committees (rather than to the Board).

This section makes conforming amendments to the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 by (1) revising the definitions in section 421 (42 U.S.C. 5061) to define "Director" as the Director of the AmeriCorps Administration (appointed under section 193 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990), define "Administration" as the AmeriCorps Administration (established under section 191 of that Act), redesignate existing paragraphs (1) through (20), and reorder them numerically; and (2) replacing "Corporation for National and Community Service" with "Director of the AmeriCorps Administration" in section 2(b) (42 U.S.C. 4950(b)), "Corporation" with "Administration" throughout (except as otherwise specified), and "Chief Executive Officer" with "Director" in section 201(h) (42 U.S.C. 5001(h)).

This section makes conforming amendments to multiple federal laws—including civil service retirement provisions, the Inspector General Act of 1978, the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1727a), the Older Americans Act of 1965, and others—by replacing references to the "Corporation for National and Community Service" with "AmeriCorps Administration" and "Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service" with "Director of the AmeriCorps Administration".