Nonprofit groups and philanthropists have reason to be concerned about legislation signed by President Obama this week to greatly expand the federal AmeriCorps program, according to a Wall Street Journal column.

Howard Husock, who heads a social-entrepreneurship initiative at the Manhattan Institute, a right-leaning think tank, writes that the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act could thwart independent, creative new nonprofit groups by tempting them to “lurch after federal dollars and bend toward government directives.”

See an archive of Chronicle articles about national service.