Corporation for National and Community Service

Corporation for National and Community Service Domestic Volunteer Service Programs, Operating Expenses For expenses necessary for the Corporation for National and Community Service to carry out the provisions of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended, $316,212,000: Provided, That none of the funds made available to the Corporation for National and Community Service in this Act for activities authorized by section 122 of part C of title I and part E of title II of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 shall be used to provide stipends or other monetary incentives to volunteers or volunteer leaders whose incomes exceed 125 percent of the national poverty level. National and Community Service Programs, Operating Expenses (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS) For necessary expenses for the Corporation for National and Community Service (the “Corporation”) in carrying out programs, activities, and initiatives under the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (the “Act”) (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.), $520,087,000, to remain available until September 30, 2007: Provided, That not more than $267,500,000 of the amount provided under this heading shall be available for grants under the National Service Trust Program authorized under subtitle C of title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.) (relating to activities of the AmeriCorps program), including grants to organizations operating projects under the AmeriCorps Education Awards Program (without regard to the requirements of sections 121(d) and (e), section 131(e), section 132, and sections 140(a), (d), and (e) of the Act: Provided further, That not less than $140,000,000 of the amount provided under this heading, to remain available without fiscal year limitation, shall be transferred to the National Service Trust for educational awards authorized under subtitle D of title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12601), of which up to $4,000,000 shall be available to support national service scholarships for high school students performing community service, and of which $7,000,000 shall be held in reserve as defined in Public Law 108–45: Provided further, That in addition to amounts otherwise provided to the National 119 STAT. 2872 Service Trust under the second proviso, the Corporation may transfer funds from the amount provided under the first proviso, to the National Service Trust authorized under subtitle D of title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12601) upon determination that such transfer is necessary to support the activities of national service participants and after notice is transmitted to Congress: Provided further, That of the amount provided under this heading for grants under the National Service Trust program authorized under subtitle C of title I of the Act, not more than $55,000,000 may be used to administer, reimburse, or support any national service program authorized under section 121(d)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12581(d)(2)): Provided further, That not more than $16,445,000 shall be available for quality and innovation activities authorized under subtitle H of title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12853 et seq.): Provided further, That notwithstanding subtitle H of title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12853), none of the funds provided under the previous proviso shall be used to support salaries and related expenses (including travel) attributable to Corporation employees: Provided further, That to the maximum extent feasible, funds appropriated under subtitle C of title I of the Act shall be provided in a manner that is consistent with the recommendations of peer review panels in order to ensure that priority is given to programs that demonstrate quality, innovation, replicability, and sustainability: Provided further, That $27,000,000 of the funds made available under this heading shall be available for the Civilian Community Corps authorized under subtitle E of title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12611 et seq.): Provided further, That $37,500,000 shall be available for school-based and community-based service-learning programs authorized under subtitle B of title I of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12521 et seq.): Provided further, That $4,000,000 shall be available for audits and other evaluations authorized under section 179 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12639): Provided further, That $10,000,000 of the funds made available under this heading shall be made available for the Points of Light Foundation for activities authorized under title III of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12661 et seq.), of which not more than $2,500,000 may be used to support an endowment fund, the corpus of which shall remain intact and the interest income from which shall be used to support activities described in title III of the Act, provided that the Foundation may invest the corpus and income in federally insured bank savings accounts or comparable interest bearing accounts, certificates of deposit, money market funds, mutual funds, obligations of the United States, and other market instruments and securities but not in real estate investments: Provided further, That no funds shall be available for national service programs run by Federal agencies authorized under section 121(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)): Provided further, That $5,000,000 of the funds made available under this heading shall be made available to America’s Promise—The Alliance for Youth, Inc.: Provided further, That to the maximum extent practicable, the Corporation shall increase significantly the level of matching funds and in-kind contributions provided by the private sector, and shall reduce the total Federal costs per participant in all programs: Provided further, That notwithstanding section 501(a)(4) of the Act, of the funds provided under this heading, not more than $12,642,000 shall be made available to provide assistance to state commissions on national and community service 119 STAT. 2873 under section 126(a) of the Act: Provided further, That the Corporation may use up to 1 percent of program grant funds made available under this heading to defray its costs of conducting grant application reviews, including the use of outside peer reviewers. SALARIES AND EXPENSES For necessary expenses of administration as provided under section 501(a)(4) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.) and under section 504(a) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, including payment of salaries, authorized travel, hire of passenger motor vehicles, the rental of conference rooms in the District of Columbia, the employment of experts and consultants authorized under 5 U.S.C. 3109, and not to exceed $2,500 for official reception and representation expenses, $66,750,000. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General in carrying out the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, $6,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2007. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the term “qualified student loan” with respect to national service education awards shall mean any loan determined by an institution of higher education to be necessary to cover a student’s cost of attendance at such institution and made, insured, or guaranteed directly to a student by a State agency, in addition to other meanings under section 148(b)(7) of the National and Community Service Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds made available under section 129(d)(5)(B) of the National and Community Service Act to assist entities in placing applicants who are individuals with disabilities may be provided to any entity that receives a grant under section 121 of the Act. The Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service shall conduct random audits of the grantees that administer activities under the AmeriCorps programs and shall levy sanctions in accordance with standard Inspector General audit resolution procedures which include, but are not limited to, debarment of any grantee (or successor in interest or any entity with substantially the same person or persons in control) that has been determined to have committed any substantial violations of the requirements of the AmeriCorps programs, including any grantee that has been determined to have violated the prohibition of using Federal funds to lobby the Congress: Provided, That the Inspector General shall obtain reimbursements in the amount of any misused funds from any grantee that has been determined to have committed any substantial violations of the requirements of the AmeriCorps programs. For fiscal year 2006, the Corporation shall make any significant changes to program requirements or policy only through public notice and comment rulemaking. For fiscal year 2006, during any grant selection process, no officer or employee of the Corporation shall knowingly disclose any covered grant selection information regarding such selection, directly or indirectly, to any person other 119 STAT. 2874 than an officer or employee of the Corporation that is authorized by the Corporation to receive such information.