A Chance To Serve Act

The "A Chance To Serve Act" seeks to substantially enhance the benefits available to both Peace Corps and AmeriCorps volunteers, making service more accessible and rewarding. For Peace Corps volunteers, the bill extends non-competitive eligibility for federal employment to three years post-service and ensures regular and predictable monthly stipends, even during government shutdowns. It also expands eligibility to include lawful permanent residents and prohibits discrimination based on refugee or asylee status.

Health care benefits for Peace Corps volunteers are expanded to include one year of eligibility for VA hospital care or medical services after service. The bill significantly increases the readjustment allowance from $125 to $425, with provisions for inflation adjustments, and makes this allowance non-taxable. Furthermore, it mandates the suspension of payments and cessation of interest accrual on federal student loans during a volunteer's service, with these months counting towards loan forgiveness programs.

For AmeriCorps, the legislation aims to increase the number of national service positions to at least 500,000 and raises the living allowance to not less than 200 percent of the poverty line. Similar to Peace Corps, it grants AmeriCorps alumni three years of non-competitive eligibility for federal jobs and provides one year of post-service health care coverage. The bill also doubles the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award and expands its use to include obtaining recognized post-secondary credentials.

Additional provisions for AmeriCorps include allowing refugees, asylees, and other lawfully admitted aliens to serve and receive educational benefits, and authorizing planning grants for underserved communities to develop national service programs. It also permits shorter terms of service with proportional education awards. Finally, the bill ensures that both Peace Corps and AmeriCorps service counts towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness and excludes national service educational awards and living allowances from an individual's gross income for tax purposes.