WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of Americans will get a fresh chance to lend a helping hand in a time of need after Congress voted Tuesday to expand ways for people to serve the country and each other.
The House voted 275-149 for a $5.7 billion bill that takes ambitious steps on public service, including tripling the number of positions in the Clinton-era AmeriCorps program, its largest expansion since the agency’s creation in 1993, and establishing a fund to help nonprofit organizations recruit and manage more volunteers.
Congress was sending the bill to President Barack Obama, who has made bolstering national service programs a high priority, and in his overall budget proposal has called for more than $1.1 billion for the programs, an increase of more than $210 million.
The legislation outlines five broad categories where people can direct their service: helping the poor, improving education, encouraging energy efficiency, strengthening access to health care and assisting veterans. People working in these new corps would provide such services as weatherizing homes or teaching computer skills to seniors or the unemployed.
People 55 and older could also earn $1,000 education awards by getting involved in public service. Those awards can be transferred to a child, grandchild or even someone they mentored.
The bill also ties volunteer work to money for college in other ways.
Sixth-graders through high school seniors could earn a $500 education award for helping in their neighborhoods during a new summer program.
Education awards for AmeriCorps participants would increase from $4,725 to $5,350.
With the nation plunging deeper into a recession, Obama and backers of the effort see the bill as a way to channel a rising desire among Americans to help their neighbors.
“History has … shown that in time of crisis, Americans turn to service and volunteering for healing, for rebuilding and for hope. The spirit of generosity in the American people is one of the greatest assets of our nation,” Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said during debate on the bill.
Applications to AmeriCorps have exploded with the plunging employment market. Last month, there were 9,731 applications submitted to the AmeriCorps online system, more than triple the 3,159 submitted in February 2008. In the AmeriCorps program, 75,000 people spend 10 months to a year helping build affordable homes or responding to disasters. Most receive an annual stipend of slightly less than $12,000.
The bill provides for gradually increasing the size of AmeriCorps to 250,000 enrollees over eight years.
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