Bill Text: IA HF2237 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act establishing an AmeriCorps program for the economic well-being and health of refugees and making an appropriation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-11 - Subcommittee, Watts, Stutsman, and Vander Linden. H.J. 215. [HF2237 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-HF2237-Introduced.html

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House File 2237 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  NUNN

                                 (COMPANION TO lsb
                                     5765SS BY PETERSEN)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act establishing an AmeriCorps program for the economic
  2    well=being and health of refugees and making an
  3    appropriation.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 15H.5, subsection 5, paragraph a, Code
  1  2 2016, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    a.  Funding for the Iowa summer youth corps program, the Iowa
  1  4 green corps program established pursuant to section 15H.6, and
  1  5  the Iowa reading corps program established pursuant to section
  1  6 15H.7, and the RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps program established
  1  7 pursuant to section 15H.8, shall be obtained from private
  1  8 sector, and local, state, and federal government sources, or
  1  9 from other available funds credited to the community programs
  1 10 account, which shall be created within the economic development
  1 11 authority under the authority of the commission. Moneys
  1 12 available in the account for a fiscal year are appropriated to
  1 13 the commission to be used for the programs. The commission
  1 14 may establish an escrow account within the authority and
  1 15 obligate moneys within that escrow account for tuition or
  1 16 program payments to be made beyond the term of any fiscal year.
  1 17 Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest earned
  1 18 on moneys in the community programs account shall be credited
  1 19 to the account. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the
  1 20 community programs account or escrow account shall not revert
  1 21 to the general fund but shall remain available for expenditure
  1 22 in future fiscal years.
  1 23    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  15H.8  RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps program.
  1 24    1.  a.  The Iowa commission on volunteer service, in
  1 25 collaboration with the department of human services, shall
  1 26 establish a Refugee Rebuild, Integrate, Serve, Empower
  1 27 (RefugeeRISE) AmeriCorps program to increase community
  1 28 integration and engagement for diverse refugee communities in
  1 29 rural and urban areas across the state.
  1 30    b.  The commission, in collaboration with the department
  1 31 of human services, may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
  1 32 implement and administer this section.
  1 33    2.  The commission may use moneys in and lawfully available
  1 34 to the community programs account created in section 15H.5 to
  1 35 fund the program.
  2  1    3.  The commission shall submit an annual report to the
  2  2 general assembly and the department of human services relating
  2  3 to the efficacy of the program.
  2  4    Sec. 3.  APPROPRIATION ==== RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps.  There
  2  5 is appropriated from the general fund of the state to the
  2  6 department of human services for the fiscal year beginning July
  2  7 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2017, the following amount, or so
  2  8 much thereof as is necessary, for the purposes designated:
  2  9 .................................................. $    350,000
  2 10    Of the funds appropriated in this section, $350,000 is
  2 11 transferred to the economic development authority for the Iowa
  2 12 commission on volunteer services to be used for RefugeeRISE
  2 13 AmeriCorps program member recruitment and training to
  2 14 improve the economic well=being and health of economically
  2 15 disadvantaged refugees in local communities across Iowa.  Funds
  2 16 appropriated in this section may be used to supplement federal
  2 17 funds under federal regulations.
  2 18                           EXPLANATION
  2 19 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 20 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 21    This bill establishes the RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps program and
  2 22 makes appropriations.
  2 23    The bill requires the Iowa commission on volunteer service
  2 24 (commission), in collaboration with the department of
  2 25 human services (DHS), to establish a RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps
  2 26 program to increase community integration and engagement for
  2 27 diverse refugee communities in rural and urban areas across
  2 28 the state. The commission may use moneys in and lawfully
  2 29 available to the community programs account created within
  2 30 the economic development authority (ECA) under the authority
  2 31 of the commission to fund the program.  The commission, in
  2 32 collaboration with DHS, may adopt rules to implement and
  2 33 administer the program and shall submit an annual report to
  2 34 the general assembly and DHS relating to the efficacy of the
  2 35 program.
  3  1 The bill makes a general fund appropriation for fiscal year
  3  2 2016=2017 to DHS for transfer to the ECA for the commission to
  3  3 be used for RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps program member recruitment
  3  4 and training to improve the economic well=being and health of
  3  5 economically disadvantaged refugees in local communities across
  3  6 Iowa.  Funds appropriated may be used to supplement federal
  3  7 funds under federal regulations.
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