[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5275 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5275

  To establish the Silver Scholarship program to provide transferable 
  educational awards to older individuals who have performed certain 
                          volunteer services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 2, 2006

   Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Mr. Owens, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. 
 Hinojosa, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Serrano, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
    Farr, and Mr. Osborne) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish the Silver Scholarship program to provide transferable 
  educational awards to older individuals who have performed certain 
                          volunteer services.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SILVER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

    Part A of title IV of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 
3001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 422. SILVER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Assistant Secretary may make 
grants to public agencies and nonprofit private organizations with 
experience in administering volunteer programs (including the programs 
carried out under title II of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 
1973), to provide scholarships of not more than $1,000 per older 
individual in accordance with this section.
    ``(b) Applications for Grants.--To request a grant under this 
section, an agency or organization described in subsection (a) shall 
submit to the Assistant Secretary an application in such form and 
accompanied by such information as the Assistant Secretary may 
reasonably require by rule. Such application shall include the plan of 
the applicant to recruit, to retain, to manage, and to train older 
individuals to serve as volunteers, including older individuals with 
greatest economic need and older individuals with limited English-
speaking ability.
    ``(c) Scholarship Eligibility and Dollar Amounts.--Subject to 
subsections (d) and (e), an agency or organization that receives a 
grant under subsection (a) shall award scholarships of $1,000 per 
individual to eligible older individuals each of whom performed, during 
a 12-month period beginning after the effective date of this section, 
not less than 600 hours of volunteer services of the type determined to 
be appropriate by the Assistant Secretary under subsection (f) (or, in 
a cases based on compelling personal circumstances scholarships of a 
prorated lesser dollar amount to eligible older individuals who have 
completed not less than 300 hours, but less than 600 hours, of such 
volunteer services in such 12-month period).
    ``(d) Limitation.--Not more than 1 scholarship may be awarded under 
this section to a particular eligible older individual in any 5-year 
period.
    ``(e) Criteria and Priorities for Awarding Scholarships.--For 
purposes of carrying out this section, the Assistant Secretary shall 
establish by rule criteria and prioirties to be applied by grant 
recipients in awarding scholarships under this section to eligible 
older individuals.
    ``(f) Volunteer Services.--The Assistant Secretary shall determine 
which types of volunteer services (including tutoring and mentoring in 
a school setting, an afterschool setting, or another community-based 
educational setting, and assisting individuals with special needs to 
continue living independently) are appropriate for purposes of 
satisfying the service requirements specified in subsection (c).
    ``(g) Use of Scholarships.--A scholarship awarded under this 
section may be used only--
            ``(1) by the older individual who receives such scholarship 
        or by any individual designated by such older individual;
            ``(2) for the payment of qualified tuition and related 
        expenses, as defined in section 117 of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 117), and in accordance with conditions 
        established by the Assistant Secretary by rule; and
            ``(3) before the expiration of the 7-year period beginning 
        on the date of receipt of such scholarship.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 
and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2008 through 
2011.''.
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