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Reauthorization Legislation
June 2006 Update
by Alan Lopatin, Washington Representative,
NARSVPD
Prospects for national service reauthorization
in the 109th Congress remain very
uncertain. While President Bush has proclaimed
his support for national service, AmeriCorps,
and the Senior Corps in various events over the
course of his presidency, the White House has
not made national service reauthorization a
priority. No new national service
reauthorization bill been introduced in the
House or Senate.
NARSVPD and our colleagues in the Senior Corps
field have promoted changes in the Older
Americans Act which would promote collaboration
between the aging network (Area Agencies on
Aging, State Units on Aging) and Senior Corps
grantees, employ the services of senior
volunteers in carrying out the programs of the
Older Americans Act, and encouraging
communication and cooperation between the
respective administrative agencies at the
Federal level (Administration on Aging and
Corporation for National and Community Service).
Following hearings on the issue, including a
round table discussion by the joint House and
Senate authorizing committees at which time
NARSVPD delivered testimony, the House Committee
favorably reported H.R. 5293, the “Senior
Independence Act of 2006" (House Report
109-493). During consideration of the measure,
the House Committee considered an amendment to
the bill (advocated by Senior Corps directors)
by Nebraska Republican Tom Osborne, Puerto Rico
Republican Luis Fortuno, and Texas Democrat
Ruben Hinojosa which would establish a Silver
Scholarship program to provide transferable
education awards of $1,000 to senior volunteers
who dedicate specific hours in a year to
community service. While the measure was
withdrawn Committee members and Chairman Buck
McKeon (R-CA) spoke favorably of the
initiative. One impediment: efforts to restrain
the establishment of “new” programs. The
Senate companion measure is currently being
negotiated by Majority and Minority staff of the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions.
Both the House and Senate bills took our
recommendations to heart. A dozen changes in
law in the Older Americans Act would encourage
the use of senior volunteers in delivering title
III services as well as Family Caregiver
services authorized under the OAA and
specifically cites Senior Corps programs as the
suitable partners in delivering those services.
Coordination and collaboration is spelled out in
the law and encouraged in the legislative
history on the measure.
The House of Representatives may consider this
bipartisan legislation in the near future under
a floor procedure which would expedite
consideration but disallow amendments. NARSVPD
will continue to work with Members and staff on
Capitol Hill to promote the cause of senior
volunteers in the context of the Older Americans
Act.
Senior Corps advocates have also supported
changes in legislation to make age requirements
consistent across the three Senior Corps
programs (reducing the eligibility age for SCP
and FGP to age 55), modifying current income
guidelines in SCP and FGP to permit low income
seniors with incomes up 200 percent of the
poverty level (rather than the current law
limitation of 125 percent) and maintaining the
administrative structure currently in place for
Senior Corps management and reporting
(Corporation State Offices). As the process of
Older Americans Act reauthorization and annual
appropriations proceeds, NARSVPD will be pushing
for these critical changes in national service
laws on any appropriate vehicle.
In the House of Representatives, jurisdiction
over national service legislation lies with the
Committee on Education and the Workforce,
chaired by California Republican Congressman
Buck McKeon. California Democrat George Miller
is the Ranking Member of the Committee. In the
Senate, the Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions is responsible for
national service reauthorization. The committee
is chaired by Wyoming Republican Mike Enzi.
Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy is the
Ranking Member on the Committee.
Silver Scholarship Legislation (H.R. 5275)
On May 2, 2006, New York Representative Nydia
Velasquez introduced legislation establishing a
Silver Scholarship program within the Older
Americans Act, administered by the
Administration on Aging in cooperation with the
Corporation for National and Community Service.
The measure, advocated by Senior Corps
directors, is modeled after President Bush’s
2001 initiative and would authorize $20 million
annually for $1,000 education awards for senior
volunteers enrolled in the program and serving
500 hours per year. The measure currently has
16 cosponsors. All directors are encouraged to
share news of this legislation with their
Representatives and seek their cosponsorship. A
Senate companion measure is also anticipated.
Reauthorization of National Service Laws on the
Agenda
The congressional committees responsible for the
national service laws (House Committee on
Education and the Workforce and Senate Committee
on Labor and Human Resources) have yet to
schedule hearings or formal consideration of
national service legislation. Given the
limited amount of time remaining prior to
congressional adjournment and a full agenda,
including appropriations bills and other
politically-charged legislation, the likelihood
of action remains uncertain.
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