House File 449 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY FORD
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to programs administered by the commission on
2 volunteer service by establishing Iowa summer youth corps and
3 green corps programs, creating the Iowa summer youth corps
4 account and making appropriations from the account, excluding
5 certain payments provided to an AmeriCorps volunteer from
6 state income tax, and providing a retroactive applicability
7 provision.
8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
9 TLSB 2619HH 83
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 15H.5 IOWA SUMMER YOUTH CORPS.
1 2 1. For the purposes of this section, "service=learning"
1 3 means a teaching and learning strategy that integrates
1 4 meaningful community service with instruction and reflection
1 5 to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility,
1 6 and strengthen communities.
1 7 2. The Iowa summer youth corps program is established to
1 8 provide meaningful summer enrichment programming to Iowa
1 9 youth. The program shall be administered by the Iowa
1 10 commission on volunteer service using a competitive grant
1 11 process to implement projects in accordance with program
1 12 requirements. The commission shall adopt administrative rules
1 13 for the program, including but not limited to incentives,
1 14 grant criteria, and grantee selection processes. A percentage
1 15 of the grants shall be designated by the commission to address
1 16 the needs of city enterprise zones that meet the distress
1 17 criteria outlined in section 15E.194.
1 18 3. The program shall provide grants for projects that
1 19 utilize a service=learning approach during the summer months
1 20 to enhance student achievement and summer learning retention,
1 21 teach meaningful job skills to Iowa youth, engage Iowa youth
1 22 in their communities, provide positive youth development
1 23 experiences, and address the needs of youth from families with
1 24 low income. The service=learning approach shall be integrated
1 25 into the program using science, technology, engineering,
1 26 mathematics, social studies, civic literacy, or other
1 27 appropriate curricula identified by the department of
1 28 education.
1 29 4. The program shall involve the youth participating in
1 30 the program in service=learning activities with one or more of
1 31 the following focuses:
1 32 a. Energy conservation in the youth's community, including
1 33 conducting educational outreach on energy conservation and
1 34 working to improve energy efficiency in low=income housing and
1 35 public spaces.
2 1 b. Emergency and disaster preparedness.
2 2 c. Improving access to and obtaining the benefits from
2 3 providing computers and other emerging technologies in public
2 4 settings, including in low=income or rural communities, senior
2 5 centers and communities, schools, libraries, and other public
2 6 settings.
2 7 d. Mentoring of middle school youth while involving all
2 8 participants in service=learning to address unmet human,
2 9 educational, environmental, public safety, or emergency
2 10 disaster preparedness needs in the participants' community.
2 11 e. Establishing or implementing summer of service projects
2 12 during the summer months. Budgeting for a summer of service
2 13 project shall include the cost of recruitment, training, and
2 14 placement of service=learning coordinators. A summer of
2 15 service project shall comply with all of the following
2 16 requirements:
2 17 (1) Youth participating in a project will be enrolled in
2 18 grades six through twelve in the school year which begins
2 19 immediately following the end of a project.
2 20 (2) The focus of each project shall be community=based
2 21 service=learning activities that address unmet human,
2 22 educational, environmental, emergency and disaster
2 23 preparedness, and public service needs. Environmental needs
2 24 addressed may include energy conservation, water quality, and
2 25 land stewardship.
2 26 (3) The activities for each project shall be intensive,
2 27 structured, supervised, and designed to produce identifiable
2 28 improvements to the community. The activities may include the
2 29 extension of school year service=learning programs into the
2 30 summer months.
2 31 5. a. Funding for the Iowa summer youth corps program
2 32 shall be paid from appropriations and other funds credited to
2 33 the Iowa summer youth corps account for purposes of the
2 34 program, which account shall be created within the department
2 35 of economic development under the authority of the commission.
3 1 Moneys available in the account for a fiscal year are
3 2 appropriated to the commission to be used for the program.
3 3 b. The commission shall manage the program in a manner to
3 4 maximize the leveraging of federal, local, and private funding
3 5 opportunities that increase or amplify program impact and
3 6 service=learning opportunities. The commission shall also
3 7 encourage collaboration with, and utilization of, other
3 8 national, local, and nonprofit programs engaged in community
3 9 service or addressing the needs of youth from families with
3 10 low income.
3 11 c. The commission shall give priority consideration to
3 12 approving those projects that target communities that have
3 13 disproportionately high rates of juvenile crime or low rates
3 14 of high school graduation or that have been designated as city
3 15 enterprise zones that meet the distress criteria outlined in
3 16 section 15E.194.
3 17 d. The commission shall include progress information
3 18 concerning implementation of the program in the quarterly
3 19 reports made to the governor and general assembly in
3 20 accordance with section 15H.2.
3 21 6. a. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of chapter
3 22 8A, subchapter IV, or chapter 96, a person participating in
3 23 the Iowa summer youth corps program shall be exempt from merit
3 24 system requirements and shall not be eligible to receive
3 25 unemployment compensation benefits.
3 26 b. If a stipend is provided to a youth participating in
3 27 the program, the youth shall be age fourteen through eighteen.
3 28 c. A youth participating in a summer of service project
3 29 that either has an education award or no compensation shall
3 30 comply with the grade level requirements specified for summer
3 31 of service project participation.
3 32 d. A project that uses funding for an AmeriCorps young
3 33 adult component within the project design shall limit
3 34 participation in the component to young adults who are age
3 35 eighteen through twenty=five at the time of enrollment in the
4 1 project.
4 2 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 15H.6 IOWA GREEN CORPS PROGRAM.
4 3 1. The Iowa commission on volunteer service, in
4 4 collaboration with the department of natural resources, the
4 5 department of workforce development, and the utilities board
4 6 of the department of commerce shall establish an Iowa green
4 7 corps program. The commission shall work with the
4 8 collaborating agencies and nonprofit agencies in developing a
4 9 strategy for attracting additional financial resources for the
4 10 program from other sources which may include but are not
4 11 limited to private utilities, local municipalities, and
4 12 federal funding sources.
4 13 2. The program shall utilize AmeriCorps or Iowa summer
4 14 youth corps program volunteers to provide capacity building
4 15 activities, training, and implementation of major
4 16 transformative projects in communities. The project selection
4 17 shall emphasize energy efficiency, historic preservation,
4 18 neighborhood development, and storm water reduction and
4 19 management.
4 20 3. The capacity building activities shall be targeted in
4 21 communities that are already working with existing community
4 22 improvement programs, including but not limited to the Iowa
4 23 great places program established under section 303.3C and the
4 24 green streets program administered by the department of
4 25 economic development.
4 26 Sec. 3. Section 422.7, Code 2009, is amended by adding the
4 27 following new subsection:
4 28 NEW SUBSECTION. 23. Subtract, to the extent included, the
4 29 amount of AmeriCorps living allowance payments and federal
4 30 Segal AmeriCorps education award payments.
4 31 Sec. 4. RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY. The provision of this
4 32 Act amending section 422.7 is retroactively applicable to
4 33 January 1, 2009, and is applicable on and after that date.
4 34 EXPLANATION
4 35 This bill relates to youth employment programs administered
5 1 by the commission on volunteer service by establishing the
5 2 Iowa summer youth corps and green corps programs, creating the
5 3 Iowa summer youth corps account and making appropriations from
5 4 the account, excluding certain payments provided to an
5 5 AmeriCorps volunteer from state income tax, and providing a
5 6 retroactive applicability provision.
5 7 New Code section 15H.5 establishes the Iowa summer youth
5 8 corps program under the authority of the commission to provide
5 9 meaningful summer enrichment programming to Iowa youth,
5 10 requires the program to be implemented by issuing competitive
5 11 grants for projects, requires the commission to designate a
5 12 percentage of the grants to address the needs of city
5 13 enterprise zones that meet the distress criteria under Code
5 14 section 15E.194, defines the term "service=learning", requires
5 15 the participating youth to be engaged with various specified
5 16 service=learning activities, outlines requirements for "summer
5 17 of service" projects for youth who will be entering grades six
5 18 through 12, creates an Iowa summer youth corps account, and
5 19 appropriates any funding available in the account to the
5 20 commission for the program.
5 21 A participant in the youth corps program is exempt from
5 22 state merit system requirements and is not eligible to receive
5 23 unemployment compensation benefits. If a stipend is provided,
5 24 the participant must be age 14 through 18. If a project uses
5 25 funding for an AmeriCorps young adult component, participation
5 26 in the component is limited to young adults who are age 18
5 27 through 25 at the time of enrollment.
5 28 New Code section 15H.6 directs the commission on volunteer
5 29 service, in collaboration with the departments of natural
5 30 resources and workforce development, and the utilities board,
5 31 to establish an Iowa green corps program. The program is
5 32 required to use AmeriCorps or Iowa summer youth corps program
5 33 volunteers to provide capacity building activities, training,
5 34 and implementation of major transformative projects in
5 35 communities. The project selection is required to emphasize
6 1 energy efficiency, historic preservation, neighborhood
6 2 development, and storm water reduction and management. The
6 3 capacity building activities are required to be targeted to
6 4 communities that are already working with existing community
6 5 improvement programs.
6 6 Code section 422.7 is amended to exclude from state
6 7 individual income tax the amount of AmeriCorps living
6 8 allowance payments and federal Segal AmeriCorps education
6 9 award payments. This provision applies retroactively to
6 10 January 1, 2009, for tax years beginning on or after that
6 11 date.
6 12 LSB 2619HH 83
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