S. 3964

To amend the national service laws to prioritize national service programs and projects that are directly related to the response to and recovery from the COVID–19 public health emergency, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

August 27, 2020

Mr. Coons (for himself, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Booker, Mr. Graham, Mr. Reed, Mr. Rubio, Ms. Duckworth, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Ms. Harris, Mr. Cassidy, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. King, and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

Friendly Amendments

Recommended additions to S. 3964 to help America respond and recover from the COVID-19 crisis by expanding the capacity of local nonprofits hit hard by the pandemic to successfully engage volunteers and scaling the non-commercial digital infrastructure necessary for effective cross-sector volunteer mobilization and coordination

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

(a) Findings.— Section 2 of Senate Bill 3964 is amended —

(1) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and inserting “and expand the capacity of local communities to effectively mobilize and coordinate volunteers.”

SEC. 5. PRIORITIZING RESPONSE SERVICES.

(a) National service priorities.— Proposed amendments to section 122(f)(5) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12572(f)) in Section 5 of Senate Bill 3964 are amended—

(1) in clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) by adding after COVID-19 “, including the expansion of the digital infrastructure necessary to effectively mobilize and coordinate volunteers at scale”

(2) by striking “and” after the semicolon in subclause (I) of clause (ii) in subparagraph (B)

(3) by inserting “or” after the semicolon in subclause (I) of clause (ii) in subparagraph (B)

 (b) COVID-19 Nonprofit Capacity Building Program. — Section 5 of Senate Bill 3964 is amended —

(1) by adding at the end, the following:

“(d) COVID-19 Nonprofit Capacity Building Program.—Section 198S of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12653s) is amended —

(1) by striking the period at the end of the first sentence in subsection (b) and adding, “, and to eligible nonprofits to support and strengthen their capacity to effectively engage volunteers to serve their community.”

(2) by adding “volunteer engagement,” to subsection (b) after the words “organizational development assistance, including”

(3) by adding to subsection (b) after the third sentence, “To support COVID-19 relief and recovery the Corporation shall also make grants to eligible nonprofits and State Commissions to support and scale the capacity of every community to effectively mobilize and collaborate with volunteers. Grants may include the development, adoption and maintenance of the non-commercial digital infrastructure necessary to connect volunteers with the organizations that need them at scale. Grants may also include the costs generally associated with high-impact volunteer programs including; planning & development, leadership support, resource allocation, tracking & evaluation, outreach, fundraising, effective training, onboarding & supervision, technology & communications, cross-sector collaboration & partnerships.”

(4) by striking the word “intermediary” from subsection (c) and replacing it with the word “eligible”

(5) by adding an “s” to the last use of the word “grant” in subsection (c)

(6) by striking the period after subsection (c) and adding, “in total per State.”

(7) by striking the word “intermediary” twice from subsection (d) and replacing it in both instances with the word “eligible”

(8) by striking from subsection (e)(1) “intermediary nonprofit organizations seeking to become intermediary nonprofit grantees in” and replacing it with, “eligible nonprofits serving”

(9) by adding “to an intermediary nonprofit” to subsection (e)(2) after the word “grant”

(10) by adding at the end of subsection (e) the following:

“(3) COVID-19 Considerations.— In determining whether to make a grant to either an eligible nonprofit, or an eligible intermediary nonprofit, the Corporation shall consider —

(A) the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on traditional volunteering programs and the urgent need for communities to more effectively collaborate across sectors to mobilize and coordinate volunteers to respond and recover

(B) the costs and challenges of successfully mobilizing and engaging volunteers in a world altered by crisis, social distancing and fear

(C) the extraordinary social impact of volunteers and the necessary infrastructure and operational costs required to effectively engage and lead them”

(11) by striking three references to “intermediary nonprofit” in subsection (f) and replacing with “eligible” in all instances

(12) by striking subsection (g)””

SEC. 7. INVITING PARTICIPATION.

(a) Platform For National Senior Service Corps.— Proposed amendments to Title IV of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 in Section (7)(b)(3) of S. 3964 are amended—

(1) by inserting “non-commercial API” before the word “gateway” in subsection (a) of section 421

(b) Chief Technology Officer of the United States.— Section 7 of S. 3964 is amended—

(1) by adding at the end the following:

“(e) Chief Technology Officer of the United States.— Section 191(a)(3) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12651) is amended —

(1) by inserting “Chief Technology Officer of the United States,” after “the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,”

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) Nonprofit Capacity Building Program.— Proposed amendments to Section 501(a) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12681) in Sec 9 of S. 3964 are amended —

(1) by adding at the end the following:

“(g) Nonprofit Capacity Building Program.— Section 501(a)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12681) is amended by adding at the end:

“(G) Nonprofit Capacity Building Program.—Of the amount authorized under subparagraph (A) there shall be made available to carry out in addition to any amount appropriated before the date of enactment of the Cultivating Opportunity and Response to the Pandemic through Service Act, an additional amount of $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2020.””