WASHINGTON — Among the newest ideas being floated in Washington to help boost employment is the expansion of Americorps and similar programs that could put thousands or hundreds of thousands of younger people to work to help rebuild communities hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Proponents are urging funding for such programs be included in the next relief package passed by Congress.
The plan is being backed by a number of national service organizations and has the support of a bipartisan group of 16 senators — eight Republicans and eight Democrats — led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), who are the co-authors of the CORPS Act.
The bill, which supporters hope to include in a coronavirus stimulus measure under development in the Senate, would increase the number of jobs available in AmeriCorps from 75,000 to 250,000 per year over three years, boost the per-employee stipend for the program to $25,000 per year and raise the educational grant for participants to $12,000, according to AnnMaura Connolly, president of the nonprofit group Voices for National Service.
Areas Prioritized
NBC News reported projects related to coronavirus recovery and those in rural and high-poverty areas would be prioritized, as would the hiring of minorities, veterans, native Americans, people with atypical abilities and people who have had contact with the juvenile justice system.
The main action is in the Senate, NBC News noted, because the Democratic-led House, where there is also bipartisan support for the effort, is expected to be an “easy lift for a bill that recalls President Franklin Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration.”
Doug Andres, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), told NBC News he did not yet have any guidance on whether the provisions of the bill were likely to be included in the stimulus measure.