Where does America, going forward, move from here on civic engagement? As divided as this nation is politically, both major presidential candidates set aside their differences yesterday and were waxing rhapsodic on the subject of volunteerism at the ServiceNation Forum. Keeping in that spirit of bipartisanship on the subject of national service, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, coming from opposite sides of the aisle, will introduce the Serve America Act today. The legislation creates an opportunity for 175,000 more Americans at various stages of life to give a year of public service to their country, expanding the number of participants to a quarter of a million. From The Salt Lake Tribune:

"The bill, which is essentially an expansion of the AmeriCorps program, would provide $5 billion over five years to help nonprofits, community organizations and faith-based programs create volunteer opportunities in five areas, or five new and distinct 'corps.'

"... Most of the money would go to state service commissions or multi-state nonprofits, who would then provide grants to smaller groups. Any nonprofits securing funding would have to match the money, dollar for dollar.

"Participants could serve full-time or part-time and would receive modest pay and an educational stipend."

"While the bill is targeted at college-aged people, 10 percent of the money would be set aside for programs where the majority of volunteers are at least 50 years old."

The five new and distinct "corps" will cover specific national challenges in Education (the dropout crisis and mentoring), Health (improving low-income health care), Green Energy (improving energy efficiency), Jobs (expansion of economic opportunities) and Emergency response (disasters). A brief history of National Service, from NationalServiceResources.Org [PDF].

[Image: Time magazine]