Hatch’s $6 Billion “Volunteer” Bill
In March 2009, the House & Senate overwhelmingly passed the “The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an Act to reauthorize and reform the national service laws.” The bill was introduced by Senators Kennedy & Hatch and will cost an estimated $5.7 billion over 5 years.
Since when does “volunteering” cost billions of dollars? This is another example of our representatives in Washington thinking that nothing good will happen in this country unless they make it happen.
Some of the money will go toward expanding Americorps from 75,000 positions to 250,000. Americorps gives grants to individuals and organizations that engage in service. I did a lot of hours of volunteer service while attending Snow College. Someone told me about the Americorps service grants given to those who did a certain number of hours of community service. I did the math and it would have amounted to less than $3 per hour not counting all the paperwork I would’ve had to do. I chose not to participate in the program, YET I SOMEHOW CONTINUED TO DO COMMUNITY SERVICE ON MY OWN!
Senators Hatch and Bennett and Rep. Matheson voted in favor of the bill, Reps Bishop and Chaffetz against it.
Additional Reading:
Heritage Foundation calls the bill “The Death of Public Service”
New York Times Article
Deseret News Article
Sen. Hatch’s Statement
