UNITE Act of 2020 2020-04-21 Introduced in House Undertaking National Initiatives to Tackle Epidemic Act of 2020 or the UNITE Act of 2020

This bill responds to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency by increasing volunteer opportunities within AmeriCorps and employment opportunities at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and requiring the re-enrollment of Peace Corps volunteers whose service ended involuntarily on March 15, 2020, or earlier for volunteers who were serving in China and Mongolia.

Among other things, the bill

  • reauthorizes through FY2022 Americorps programs;
  • increases recruitment levels of its volunteers to 500,000 in FY2020-FY2022;
  • sets the minimum compensation for Americorps volunteers, beginning in FY2020, at 200% of the poverty line applicable to a family of one; and
  • requires FEMA to appoint, administer, and expedite the training of an additional 10,000 Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees above the level of such employees in FY2019 to address the COVID-19 emergency.
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