 |
|
 
The Institute
New from PPI
Memos to the New President
2008 Briefing Series
Events
Press Center
National Defense & Homeland Security
Foreign Policy
Economic & Fiscal Policy
Trade & Global Markets
Energy & Environment
Health Care
Technology & Innovation
The New Economy
Work, Family & Community
National Service & Civic Enterprise
National Service
Civic Enterprise
Common Civic Culture
Global Civil Society
About This Project
Quality of Life
Crime & Public Safety
Political Reform
Education
The Third Way
|
|
PPI | Backgrounder | March 11, 2002
Scaling Up National Service
By Marc Magee
In his 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush proposed a new U.S.A. Freedom Corps that would expand National Service and link it to homeland defense. Coming on the heels of a more ambitious, bipartisan proposal introduced by Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), the president's initiative greatly enhances the prospects that Congress will act this year to scale up America's small but vital experiment in National Service.
The president's embrace of National Service is both surprising and ironic. Though he never mentioned his predecessor's name, his proposal builds on the foundation laid by Bill Clinton's signature AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs. Moreover, President Bush's decisive move into the National Service camp represents a sharp break with congressional Republicans' nearly monolithic antipathy to what they have regarded as "Bill Clinton's pet program." In fact, there already has been loud grumbling on the right, with House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) recently blasting AmeriCorps as "obnoxious" and vowing to resist attempts to expand it.
Nonetheless, with Americans asking what they can do to make their country safer and stronger after the Sept. 11 attacks, interest in volunteerism and National Service has clearly surged. And as President Bush remarked in his State of the Union address, for citizens unsure how best to serve their country in this time of crisis, America's National Service programs are "a good place to start."
This issue brief examines and compares the Bayh-McCain and the Bush proposals, although the latter is a moving target as details are only slowly emerging.
Although there are significant differences in scale, the Bayh-McCain and White House plans overlap in three areas: AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Serve Study.
AmeriCorps. The Bayh-McCain bill, co-sponsored in the House by Reps. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) and Tom Osborne (R-Neb.), envisions a dramatic expansion of AmeriCorps, which would quintuple in size from nearly 50,000 members per year today to 250,000 by 2010. Under AmeriCorps, volunteers serve full-time in non-profit organizations combating problems like illiteracy, crime, and drug abuse in exchange for $4,725 per year for college tuition and a small stipend for living expenses. Bayh-McCain requires that half of this increase in members -- 100,000 full-time AmeriCorps members per year>be committed to strengthening our homeland security. When fully phased-in, this expansion would cost $2 billion per year.
The President's proposal is far more modest, providing funding for 25,000 additional AmeriCorps members by 2003, at a cost of $230 million per year. In addition, the administration anticipates that these new members will then recruit up to 75,000 private volunteers.
In addition, President Bush calls for a new, part-time Citizen Corps to assist in homeland defense. Through this umbrella organization, the Bush proposal expands funding for existing part-time volunteer programs such as Volunteers in Police Service, Neighborhood Watch, and Community Emergency Response Team, as well as funding the creation of a new part-time volunteer program for retired healthcare professionals called the Medical Reserve Corps. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is charged with supervising and supporting these Citizen Corps programs. The Bush proposal provides $230 million for these Citizen Corps programs.
Senior Corps. Bayh-McCain also aims to expand the Senior Corps, which comprises three part-time volunteer programs for seniors administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The bill lowers the age for participation from 65 years old to 55 years old, eliminates the low-income requirement (125 percent poverty level), and creates a new "Silver Scholarship" -- a $1,000 education award for 500 hours of tutoring or mentoring that a senior volunteer can designate for a grandchild. These provisions would cost $50.5 million per year. The White House bill mirrors these proposals, while setting a goal of expanding the Senior Corps by 100,000, to 600,000 volunteers a year, by 2003.
Serve Study. Bayh-McCain also seeks to restore the original community service purpose of the $1 billion Federal Work Study program. That program, which includes nearly one million low to middle-income students, essentially provides U.S. colleges and universities with a low-wage labor force commonly deployed in cafeterias, libraries, and other campus jobs. In a change certain to draw stiff opposition from some college administrators and their allies in Congress, Bayh-McCain would increase Work Study funds specifically targeted for work in community service organizations from the 7 percent currently required in the Higher Education Act to 25 percent. This change would result in an additional 125,000 students serving in community service organizations per year, at virtually no cost to taxpayers.
The Bush proposal takes this approach even further, increasing the percentage of Work Study funds specifically targeted for work in community service organizations to 50 percent. This change would mean an additional 250,000 students serving in community service organizations per year.
In comparing the two plans, a distinct difference in approach emerges. Bayh-McCain favors large increases in full-time National Service opportunities, while the Bush proposal emphasizes increases in part-time volunteering programs (including Work Study).
National Service and the Military. One of the most significant differences between the two plans involves military service. Bayh-McCain views military and civilian service as co-equal pillars of National Service; Bush's proposal sees no such connection.
Bayh-McCain would expand opportunities for young Americans to serve their country in the armed forces by creating a new, short-term enlistment option aimed at people who do not seek a military career. The "18-18-18" plan allows recruits to serve 18 months on Active Duty followed by 18 months in the Reserves in exchange for $18,000 in bonus pay or as an education scholarship. According to Northwestern University Prof. Charles Moskos, the country's pre-eminent military sociologist, this short-term enlistment track would remove one of the most important barriers to military service for college graduates: the three to five-year terms of service, which are perceived as obstacles to their larger career goals. The bill provides $300 million per year to fund this short-term enlistment option.
Second, the Bayh-McCain proposal would double benefits under the Montgomery G.I. Bill, from $7,800 per year to $15,600 per year. This would encourage longer-term enlistment from college-bound youths or graduates that might not otherwise consider a military career, at a cost of $2 billion per year. Third, Bayh-McCain would increase the presence of military recruitment on college campuses by closing loopholes in current recruiting statutes that allow schools to avoid providing military recruiters with both the information and physical facilities required for an effective recruiting program.
The enhanced GI Bill benefits and shorter-term enlistment option are designed to relieve the military's chronic recruiting headaches, by expanding the pool of highly qualified applicants; drawing into the military a more representative swath of the nation's youth; and ensuring that a healthy percentage of future generations of American leaders have some military experience.
Finally, the bill establishes a 9-member Commission on Military Recruitment and National Service charged with "increasing and broadening the participation of the people of the United States ... in service in the Armed Forces."
Peace Corps. Interestingly, the Bush proposal aims at revitalizing President John Kennedy's Peace Corps. Since 1961, Peace Corps members have served for two years abroad during which time they receive a small stipend to cover their basic needs. Members also receive a readjustment allowance of $6,025 after completing their full term of service. Currently, about 7,000 Americans serve abroad in the Peace Corps. The Bush proposal provides an additional $200 million over five years to increase this number to 15,000 by 2007. It also sets the goal of providing Peace Corps members to more Islamic countries to help fight terrorism with friendship and goodwill.
The experience of the Peace Corps is a cautionary tale for National Service. While President Kennedy had hoped to see the Corps grow to 100,000 members, the program peaked at 16,000 members in 1966 and by 1971 had fallen to its current level. National Service advocates are determined not to let AmeriCorps languish on the margins of government without a serious test of its potential to be a truly transformative force in American civic life.
Now America faces a new window of opportunity on National Service. With strong bipartisan support for a major expansion of National Service, from both the president and key members of Congress, it is critical that National Service advocates demand nothing less than an historic leap on a truly national scale.
Blueprint Keywords: Extra National Service
Marc Magee is the fellow for National and Community Service at PPI.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
