GIVE til it hurts: House passes volunteerism expansion bill

From this:

The House of Representatives passed a measure Wednesday that supporters are calling the most sweeping reform of nationally-backed volunteer programs since AmeriCorps. But some opponents are strongly criticizing the legislation, calling it expensive indoctrination and forced advocacy.

The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, known as the GIVE Act (HR1388) -- sponsored by Reps. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y, and George Miller, D-Calif. -- was approved by a 321-105 vote and now goes to the Senate.

The legislation, slated to cost $6 billion over five years, would create 175,000 "new service opportunities" under AmeriCorps, bringing the number of participants in the national volunteer program to 250,000. It would also create additional "corps" to expand the reach of volunteerism into new sectors, including a Clean Energy Corps, Education Corps, Healthy Futures Corps and Veterans Service Corps, and it expands the National Civilian Community Corps to focus on additional areas like disaster relief and energy conservation.

A more worried treatment is given here; the bit about the uniforms seems to be only something that volunteers can be reimbursed for. It could be meant for cases like someone who needs a standard uniform for a particular volunteer job. Or, it could be the precursor to offering or requiring uniforms specific to those in the volunteer program itself.

A satire I made almost a year ago that's getting ever closer to reality is here.

Fri, 03/20/2009 - 14:13 · · Importance: 4