II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 464 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 24, 2009 Mr. Dodd (for himself, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Casey, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Rockefeller, and Mr. Nelson of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to improve the educational awards provided for national service, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the AmeriCorps: Together Improving Our Nation Actor as the ACTION Act.

2.

Amount of national service educational award

(a)

In General

Section 147(a) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12603(a)) is amended— (1)by striking equal to 90 percent of and all that follows and inserting the following: “equal to— (1)for fiscal year 2010, $6585; and (2)except as provided in paragraph (1), for each fiscal year, an amount equal to the greater of— (A)the average cost of tuition and fees (determined under section 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ll) for the preceding fiscal year for a full-time student at a 4-year public institution of higher education that receives funds under title IV of that Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); and (B)the amount determined for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection. . (b)

Effective date

Subsection (a) takes effect on October 1, 2009.

3.

Treatment of national service educational award

(a)

In general

Section 147 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12603) is amended by adding at the end the following: (d)

Treatment

The amount of a national service educational award provided to an individual under this subtitle shall not be included in the gross income of the individual for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. . (b)

Effective date

The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to national service educational awards disbursed after December 31, 2009.

4.

National service programs to implement priorities of Federal agencies

Section 121(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: (5)

Priorities of Federal agencies

In carrying out this subsection, the Corporation may enter into a contract or cooperative agreement with another Federal agency to support a national service program, carried out by the Federal agency, to implement the priorities of the Federal agency (notwithstanding section 122). .

5.

Cabinet level status for Chief Executive Officer

(a)

Executive departments

Section 101 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: The Corporation for National and Community Service. . (b)

Compensation

Section 193 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12651c) is amended— (1)by striking level III and inserting level I; and (2)by striking section 5314 and inserting section 5312.