[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7026 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7026

 To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish 
the Silver Scholarship program to encourage increased volunteer work by 
                                seniors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 23, 2008

Mr. Sestak (for himself and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish 
the Silver Scholarship program to encourage increased volunteer work by 
                                seniors.

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

SECTION 1. SILVER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle H of title I of the National and 
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12653 et seq.), is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 198F. SILVER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Corporation is authorized to award grants 
to eligible entities, to enable the entities to provide volunteers 
participating in service projects in accordance with this section with 
scholarships that may be used by the volunteers or by individuals 
designated by the volunteers.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an entity shall be a public agency or private nonprofit 
organization with experience in administering service programs 
(including the programs described in or administered under title II of 
the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5000 et seq.)).
    ``(c) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, an entity shall submit to the Corporation an application at 
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
Corporation may reasonably require.
    ``(d) Criteria and Priorities for Grants.--The Corporation shall 
establish criteria and priorities for awarding grants under this 
section.
    ``(e) Requirements for Scholarship.--An entity that receives a 
grant under subsection (a) shall use the funds made available through 
the grant to award a scholarship described in subsection (a) to 
recipients, each of whom--
            ``(1) is, or has been designated for the scholarship by, a 
        volunteer who--
                    ``(A) has performed not less than 500 hours of 
                volunteer service, of a type specified by the 
                Corporation under subsection (f)(1), during a 12-month 
                period that is--
                            ``(i) after the volunteer at issue has 
                        attained age 55; and
                            ``(ii) after the date of the enactment of 
                        this section; or
                    ``(B) has performed not less than 250 hours but 
                less than 500 hours of volunteer service of that type 
                during such a 12-month period, based on compelling 
                personal circumstances; and
            ``(2) has received, during the 5-year period preceding the 
        date that the scholarship is awarded, fewer than 2 scholarships 
        under this section.
    ``(f) Services, Criteria, and Priorities for Scholarships.--The 
Corporation shall--
            ``(1) specify the types of volunteer service a volunteer 
        may engage in to meet term of service requirements for a 
        scholarship under this section, which shall include--
                    ``(A) tutoring or mentoring in a school, after-
                school program, or other community-based educational 
                setting; and
                    ``(B) assisting persons with special needs, 
                including persons who are homebound, to continue living 
                independently; and
            ``(2) establish criteria and priorities for eligible 
        entities to use in awarding scholarships under this section.
    ``(g) Amount of Scholarship.--The entities shall award the 
scholarships--
            ``(1) in an amount of not more than $1,000; or
            ``(2) in a amount that is prorated based on the 
        individual's hours of service, for an individual who meets the 
        requirements of subsection (e) with a term of service described 
        in subsection (e)(2)(B).
    ``(h) Use of Scholarships.--A scholarship awarded under this 
section may be used--
            ``(1) by the volunteer or the person designated by the 
        volunteer, in accordance with subsection (e);
            ``(2) only for qualified tuition and related expenses, as 
        defined in section 117 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
        and only under such conditions as are set forth by the 
        Corporation through regulation; and
            ``(3) not later than 20 years after the date of the award 
        of the scholarship, to allow time for `an individual' 
        designated under subsection (e)(1) to use the scholarship.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--Of the funds appropriated 
to carry out this section--
            ``(1) not more than 15 percent shall be used for 
        administrative purposes by the Corporation;
            ``(2) not less than 50 percent shall be made available for 
        grants under subsection (a) and used to award scholarships to 
        volunteers who have met the term of service requirements for 
        the scholarships by providing tutoring or mentoring described 
        in subsection (f)(1)(A);
            ``(3) not less than 10 percent shall be made available for 
        such grants and used to award scholarships to volunteers who 
        have met the requirements by providing assistance described in 
        subsection (f)(1)(B); and
            ``(4) not more than 10 percent shall be made available for 
        such grants and used for administrative purposes by the 
        eligible entities receiving the grants.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 501(a)(2), as amended 
by section 202(b) of this Act, is further amended--
            (1) by striking ``section 198E'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``sections 198E and 198F''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Silver scholarship program.--There are 
                authorized to be appropriated to carry out section 
                198F, $20,000,000 for the first fiscal year beginning 
                after the date of the enactment of section 198F and 
                such sums as are necessary for each fiscal year 
                thereafter.''.
    (c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of the Act is further 
amended in the items relating to subtitle H of title I, by adding at 
the end the following:

``Sec. 198F. Silver scholarship programs.''.
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