March 27, 2009
National-Service Bill Clears Final Major Hurdle, Winning Senate Approval
By Suzanne Perry
Washington
A move to greatly increase the number of Americans who participate in national-service programs — championed by a wide variety of nonprofit groups — cleared its final major hurdle today, when the Senate adopted the Serve America Act.
Senators approved the legislation — which would more than triple the number of participants in AmeriCorps and create an array of new volunteer programs for people of all ages — with a bipartisan vote of 79 to 19.
The vote came after several days of debate with a strong “feel-good” air to it, as many senators discussed their own volunteer or service work and pointed to examples of successful programs in their districts.
“When the American people hear about what we have done this week, it is such an antidote to last week,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, referring to the uproar over the bonuses awarded to executives at the American International Group insurance company. She called the legislation an “opportunity ladder” for people who want to help solve the country’s problems.
The Senate debate was somewhat poignant because Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the lead Democratic sponsor of the bill, was unable to attend most of the proceedings because he is ill with a brain tumor.
He attended the final vote today, however, winning a standing ovation from the senators. On a motion by Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah – a key Republican sponsor – the lawmakers agreed to rename the bill the “Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.”
Some Republican senators criticized the bill for being too expensive and inserting too much government into what they said should be private acts of volunteerism. But Senator Hatch said the bill married the “liberal” instinct of wanting government to help people in need with the “conservative” concept of placing more power in the hands of individuals.
“It’s not all that often we are able to work together to satisfy both of those ideals,” he said on the Senate floor, “but I believe we have done so with this legislation.”
The bill now goes to the House, which adopted its own version of the legislation, the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act, earlier this month. The Senate version of the bill is somewhat different. For example, it would triple the number of AmeriCorps participants to 250,000 by 2017, while the House wanted to do it by 2014. But a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said the body is expected to adopt it without further amendments on Monday.
It then goes for signature to President Obama, who has advocated expanding national service since early in his presidential campaign. After he signs it, Congress will start appropriating money for the programs. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the new and expanded programs would cost about $6-billion over five years.
Among its provisions, the Serve America Act — the first update of programs operated by the Corporation for National and Community Service since 1993 — would create:
- A Social Innovation Funds Pilot Program, which would provide “venture capital” to help nonprofit groups that have developed successful ways to tackle social problems expand their work. It would make $50-million available in 2010, growing to $100-million in 2014, with matching funds required from other sources.
- A Volunteer Generation Fund of $50-million in 2010, growing to $100-million in 2014. Money would go to nonprofit groups or state national-service commissions for programs to help charities recruit and manage volunteers.
- New service “corps” in the fields of clean energy, health, poverty, and services to veterans.
- Encore Fellowships and Silver Scholarships for people age 55 and above.
The bill would also increase the education award to AmeriCorps participants from $4,725 to $5,350 and tie it to the amount that Pell Grants give to poor college students.
Many nonprofit groups have been pushing for the national-service legislation for some time, notably the coalitions ServiceNation and America Forward.
“To be on the verge of a quantum leap within 100 days of the new administration and with such strong bipartisan support, this is something we dreamed about,” Alan Khazei, chief executive of Be the Change — a civic-engagement group in Boston that helped start ServiceNation — said shortly before the vote.
Others praised the bill for offering new opportunities for older
Americans. “Most people think national service is for young people,” said a statement issued by John Gomperts, president of Civic Ventures, a group that promotes opportunities for older people. “And it is. But once President Obama signs this legislation, service will be for people of all ages.”
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This is great news. As a possible Silver Scholarship candidate, I am excited!
— debra beach Mar 27, 01:42 PM #
The power of service to transform communities of despair into communities of hope and engagement is incalculable in terms of our national investment. Aguirre and Rand studies should be quoted to prove to skeptics that the payback is tremendously “worth it.”
— Meredith Machen Mar 27, 01:45 PM #
To add on to Meredith’s comments- We should use these previous studies to inform our work but we shouldn’t stop there. We need to have clear and realistic objectives about what volunteers are meant to accomplish. Then we need to measure their impact by looking at how volunteer efforts relate to desired outcomes. Only good data will tell us what type of impact these programs really have and inform areas for improvement in the future.
— Zareen Hansotia Mar 27, 04:09 PM #
I agree with Zareen. As a Professor with a specialty in Academic Assessment I think specifying outcomes and managing expectations is critical. On the front end, incentives should be made transparent as well – college credit, grants, cost-of-living stipends or the like. Adding to what Meredith has said about communities of despair, I agree. However, we should also look at non-traditional/socially neutral approaches to service if we want more robust participation. Overall the intent of the bill is solid – enticing social entrepreneurialism.
— Dr. K. Mar 27, 04:28 PM #
Haven’t any of you scholars read “Atlas Shrugged?” You are promoting the degradation of a great nation. This country doesn’t need bills/laws to pay people to volunteer. It is happening every day in neighborhoods and communities across the country. The areas that lack volunteers and charitable organizations are the ones that recieve state and federal welfare. Those are the areas we have “conditioned” not to do for themselves, but to wait for others to do it for them. Wake Up!
Look across America now and see where you have the largest participation of REAL volunteers, not paid ones…. they are from communities that are productive – they are the ones that can afford to be generous. More bills/laws like this one and we can all just kick back and wait for Big Brother to take care of us…
DO NOT SUPPORT THIS OR ANY OTHER LEGISLATION THAT ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR SELF-MOTIVATED VOLUNTEERISM… It will serve only to create another dependant sector of our population in America!
— Polly Mar 31, 08:34 AM #
As exciting as this sounds, I’m concerned about some of the drawbacks and requirements to qualify. I’d like to read the fine print and find out what groups will actually benefit from this. Volunteering should be done out of good will, not forcefully imposed.
— Jon Apr 3, 12:54 AM #
The corruption continues unabated. How can we have some charitable work “favored” and “blessed” by the government? This is paid for by all the rest of us, who, suckers as we are, are stuck doing the unfavored stuff.
— Wilson Peterson Apr 6, 08:09 AM #
Where on earth do you naysayers get the idea that this is mandatory volunteerism??? Nowhere have I read that the act of volunteering will be forced upon anyone.
— Tom Apr 22, 12:05 AM #