Bill Text: IA HF2153 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act establishing an Iowa national service corps program administered by the Iowa commission on volunteer service. (See HF 2420.)
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-07 - Withdrawn. H.J. 512. [HF2153 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2017-HF2153-Introduced.html
House File 2153 - Introduced HOUSE FILE BY KOESTER A BILL FOR 1 An Act establishing an Iowa national service corps program 2 administered by the Iowa commission on volunteer service. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: TLSB 5802YH (2) 87 je/rj PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. Section 15H.5, subsection 5, paragraph a, Code 1 2 2018, is amended to read as follows: 1 3 a. Funding for the Iowa summer youth corps program, the 1 4 Iowa green corps program established pursuant to section 15H.6, 1 5 the Iowa reading corps program established pursuant to section 1 6 15H.7,andthe RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps program established 1 7 pursuant to section 15H.8, and the Iowa national service 1 8 corps program established pursuant to section 15H.9 shall be 1 9 obtained from private sector, and local, state, and federal 1 10 government sources, or from other available funds credited to 1 11 the community programs account, which shall be created within 1 12 the economic development authority under the authority of the 1 13 commission. Moneys available in the account for a fiscal year 1 14 are appropriated to the commission to be used for the programs. 1 15 The commission may establish an escrow account within the 1 16 authority and obligate moneys within that escrow account for 1 17 tuition or program payments to be made beyond the term of any 1 18 fiscal year. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, 1 19 interest earned on moneys in the community programs account 1 20 shall be credited to the account. Notwithstanding section 1 21 8.33, moneys in the community programs account or escrow 1 22 account shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain 1 23 available for expenditure in future fiscal years. 1 24 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 15H.9 Iowa national service corps 1 25 program. 1 26 1. The Iowa commission on volunteer service may establish an 1 27 Iowa national service corps program to provide opportunities 1 28 for state agencies, political subdivisions of the state, and 1 29 private, nonprofit organizations to create national service 1 30 programs outside of existing state and federal programs to meet 1 31 state and local needs and to provide more opportunities for 1 32 Iowans to serve their state and country and foster a cultural 1 33 expectation of service in Iowa through a unified service corps. 1 34 2. The commission may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A 1 35 for approving Iowa national service corps programs and national 2 1 service positions. Existing programs and service positions, 2 2 including those established through the AmeriCorps programs in 2 3 Iowa created pursuant to 42 U.S.C. {12501, Senior Corps and 2 4 AmeriCorps vista in Iowa created pursuant to 42 U.S.C. {4950 et 2 5 seq., the Iowa summer youth corps program created pursuant to 2 6 section 15H.5, the Iowa green corps program created pursuant 2 7 to section 15H.6, the Iowa reading corps program created 2 8 pursuant to section 15H.7, the RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps program 2 9 created pursuant to section 15H.8, and the Iowa conservation 2 10 corps created pursuant to section 84A.7, are part of the Iowa 2 11 national service corps programs and national service positions. 2 12 3. State agencies or political subdivisions of the state 2 13 may enter into an agreement with any approved Iowa national 2 14 service corps program directly or through an agreement with 2 15 the commission. State agencies or political subdivisions of 2 16 the state may establish Iowa national service corps programs 2 17 or contract with a third=party vendor to assist the agency or 2 18 political subdivision in establishing such programs. 2 19 4. State agencies or political subdivisions of the state may 2 20 give priority to grants or projects funded that utilize Iowa 2 21 national service corps programs. 2 22 5. State agencies or political subdivisions of the state 2 23 may establish hiring preferences for any Iowa national service 2 24 corps or AmeriCorps participant who has successfully completed 2 25 a year of full=time service or one thousand seven hundred hours 2 26 over a period extending beyond a year. 2 27 6. A person participating in the Iowa national service corps 2 28 program is not an employee of the organization in which the 2 29 person is enrolled regardless of whether a stipend is provided, 2 30 shall be exempt from the merit system requirements of chapter 2 31 8, subchapter IV, and is not eligible to receive unemployment 2 32 compensation benefits under chapter 96 upon completion of 2 33 service. 2 34 EXPLANATION 2 35 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 3 1 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly. 3 2 This bill allows the Iowa commission on volunteer service 3 3 (commission) to establish an Iowa national service corps 3 4 program to provide opportunities for state agencies, political 3 5 subdivisions of the state, and private, nonprofit organizations 3 6 to create national service programs outside of existing state 3 7 and federal programs to meet state and local needs and provide 3 8 opportunities for volunteer service. The bill provides that 3 9 certain specified, existing programs and service positions are 3 10 automatically part of the Iowa national service corps program. 3 11 The bill allows state agencies or political subdivisions 3 12 of the state to enter into agreements with approved Iowa 3 13 national service corps programs either directly or through 3 14 the commission. The bill states a person participating in 3 15 the Iowa national service corps program is not an employee of 3 16 the organization in which the person is enrolled, is exempt 3 17 from the state merit system requirements, and is ineligible 3 18 to receive unemployment compensation benefits upon completion 3 19 of service. The bill allows state agencies or political 3 20 subdivisions of the state to establish hiring preferences for 3 21 Iowa national service corps or AmeriCorps participants that 3 22 have successfully completed a year of full=time service or 3 23 1,700 hours over a period beyond one year. 3 24 The bill allows the commission to use moneys in and available 3 25 to the community programs account established in current Code 3 26 section 15H.5 to fund the program. The account may be credited 3 27 with private sector, and local, state, and federal government 3 28 sources, or other available funds, for use by the commission 3 29 for various programs administered by the commission. LSB 5802YH (2) 87 je/rj
