[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5442 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5442
To build on America's spirit of service to nurture, promote, and expand
a culture of service to secure the Nation's future, address critical
needs of the Nation, and strengthen the civic fabric of American
society.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 17, 2025
Mr. Panetta (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in
addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Affairs,
Agriculture, Natural Resources, Ways and Means, Oversight and
Government Reform, Veterans' Affairs, Homeland Security, Intelligence
(Permanent Select), House Administration, the Judiciary, and Energy and
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To build on America's spirit of service to nurture, promote, and expand
a culture of service to secure the Nation's future, address critical
needs of the Nation, and strengthen the civic fabric of American
society.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Inspired to Serve Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I--PRIORITIZATION OF CIVIC EDUCATION AND SERVICE LEARNING
Sec. 101. Civic education fund.
Sec. 102. Service-learning fund.
Sec. 103. National civics assessment.
Sec. 104. Excellence in civics award.
Sec. 105. Development of material on civic education and effective
citizenship.
Sec. 106. Sense of Congress regarding the importance of teachers in
inspiring civic engagement.
TITLE II--ELEVATION AND INTEGRATION OF ALL FORMS OF SERVICE
Sec. 201. Council on Military, National, and Public Service.
Sec. 202. Internet-based service platform.
Sec. 203. Pilot program to coordinate military, national, and public
service recruitment.
Sec. 204. Joint market research and recruiting program to advance
military and national service.
Sec. 205. Information sharing to advance military and national service.
Sec. 206. Transition opportunities for military servicemembers and
national service participants.
Sec. 207. Joint report to Congress on initiatives to integrate military
and national service.
TITLE III--ADVANCEMENT OF MILITARY, NATIONAL, AND PUBLIC SERVICE
Sec. 300. Definitions.
Subtitle A--Advancement of Military Service
Sec. 301. New personnel management structure for military specialists.
Sec. 302. Pre-service tuition grant program.
Sec. 303. Pilot program on technical civilian professional credentials.
Sec. 304. Expansion of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps Program.
Sec. 305. Expansion of Cyber Institutes Program.
Sec. 306. Temporary authority for targeted recruitment incentives.
Sec. 307. Multiyear appropriations for marketing and advertising.
Subtitle B--Advancement of National Service
Sec. 321. National service fellowships.
Sec. 322. Expansion of YouthBuild, Youth Conservation Corps, and
National Guard Youth Challenge programs.
Sec. 323. National service public awareness campaign.
Sec. 324. Recognition of corporate contributions to national service.
Sec. 325. Corporation for national and community service demonstration
projects.
Sec. 326. Peace Corps remote demonstration projects.
Sec. 327. National service living allowance increases.
Sec. 328. Senior Corps stipend increases.
Sec. 329. Wraparound support services for certain national service
participants.
Sec. 330. National service educational award increases.
Sec. 331. Expanded use of national service educational award.
Sec. 332. Discounted end-of-service cash stipend for national service
members.
Sec. 333. Exclusion of national service educational award from gross
income.
Sec. 334. Transferability of national service educational award.
Sec. 335. Noncompetitive eligibility for full-time national service
participants.
Sec. 336. Pension service credit for Federal service corps
participants.
Sec. 337. Senior Corps competitive grant model.
Subtitle C--Advancement of Public Service: Modernization of Federal
Personnel Systems
Sec. 341. Enhanced awareness of the value of Federal public service.
Sec. 342. Responsibility for determining eligibility for hiring
preferences and special hiring options.
Sec. 343. Enhancement of special hiring authorities for military
veterans.
Sec. 344. Noncompetitive eligibility for high-performing civilian
employees.
Sec. 345. Flexibility for temporary and term appointments.
Sec. 346. Criteria for granting direct-hire authority to agencies.
Sec. 347. Cafeteria plan for Federal employees.
Sec. 348. Modern benefits pilot program.
Sec. 349. Demonstration project flexibility for the Office of Personnel
Management.
Sec. 350. Advanced assessment tools for Executive agency hiring.
Sec. 351. Competency standards for human resources specialists.
Sec. 352. Evaluation of improvements to the Federal civil service
personnel system.
Sec. 353. Proposals for modern talent-management system.
Sec. 354. Annual report on blended Federal workforce.
Sec. 355. Sense of Congress on effective and efficient management of
the blended Federal workforce.
Subtitle D--Advancement of Public Service: Students, Recent Graduates,
and Critical Skills
Sec. 361. Federal Fellowship and Scholarship Center.
Sec. 362. Public Service Corps.
Sec. 363. Public service academy grants.
Sec. 364. Public service cadet program at military service academies.
Sec. 365. Compensation for Federal interns.
Sec. 366. Establishment of Pathways Program.
Sec. 367. Enhanced hiring for recent college graduates and post-
secondary students.
Sec. 368. Aggregate number of hires of recent college graduates and
post-secondary students.
Sec. 369. Demonstration project to hire recent college graduates and
post-secondary students with critical
skills.
Sec. 370. Noncompetitive eligibility for Federal developmental
positions.
Sec. 371. Facilitation of Federal employee reskilling.
Sec. 372. Civilian Cybersecurity Reserve pilot project.
Sec. 373. Expansion of cyber talent management system.
Sec. 374. Personnel policy demonstration project for Federal agencies
with employees in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics fields.
Sec. 375. Development of proposal for simplified personnel system for
Veterans Health Administration.
Sec. 376. Portability of health care licensure for Federal employees.
TITLE IV--STRENGTHENING OF NATIONAL MOBILIZATION
Sec. 401. Modernization of the Selective Service System.
Sec. 402. Report on exemptions and deferments for a possible military
draft.
Sec. 403. Responsibilities for national mobilization; personnel
requirements.
Sec. 404. Critical skills for the Department of Defense.
Sec. 405. Individual Ready Reserve for Critical Skills.
TITLE I--PRIORITIZATION OF CIVIC EDUCATION AND SERVICE LEARNING
SEC. 101. CIVIC EDUCATION FUND.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Applied civics.--The term ``applied civics'' means an
educational program applying service-learning methods to
provide students with practical and experiential opportunities
to apply their civic knowledge and skills.
(2) Civic education.--The term ``civic education'' means an
educational program that provides participants with knowledge
of law, government, and the rights and responsibilities of
citizens and skills that enable participants to participate
responsibly in democracy.
(3) Educational service agency and state educational
agency.--The terms ``educational service agency'' and ``State
educational agency'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(4) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) any local educational agency;
(B) any State educational agency;
(C) any educational service agency;
(D) any institution of higher education;
(E) any community-based organization;
(F) any nonprofit, nongovernmental organization; or
(G) any consortium of entities described in
subparagraphs (A) through (F).
(5) High-need school.--The term ``high-need school'' means
any public elementary school or secondary school that is
located in an area in which the percentage of students from
families with incomes below the poverty line is 30 percent or
more, as determined by the Secretary.
(6) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given that
term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(7) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational
agency'' has the meaning given that term in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)
and includes any tribally sanctioned educational authority as
defined in section 3201 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 7011).
(8) School.--The term ``school'' means--
(A) any elementary school or secondary school as
those terms are defined in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801); and
(B) any education program provided by the Secretary
of Defense under section 2164 of title 10, United
States Code.
(9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
(10) Service-learning.--The term ``service-learning'' has
the meaning given that term in section 101 of the National and
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511).
(11) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United
States.
(b) Program Authorized.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish and
administer a Civic Education Fund from which the Secretary
makes grants under this section to eligible entities, on a
competitive basis, to support the development and evaluation of
civic education programs in schools.
(2) Purpose.--The purposes of grants awarded from the Civic
Education Fund are--
(A) to promote and expand civic education by
supporting the development and implementation of high-
quality civic education, applied civics, and service-
learning programming in schools;
(B) to promote the development and implementation
of evidence-based curricula and educational standards,
and to provide teacher development, with respect to
civic education, applied civics, and service-learning
programming in schools; and
(C) to support State and local educational
agencies, institutions of higher education, and
nonprofit organizations in their efforts to support
civic education, applied civics, and service-learning
in schools.
(c) Teacher Development in Civic Education, Applied Civics, and
Service-learning.--
(1) In general.--An eligible entity may apply for a grant
under this section for the purpose of teacher development in
civic education, applied civics, and service-learning in
schools. Such grant may only be used--
(A) to train teachers in effective strategies for
instructing students in civic education, applied
civics, and service-learning;
(B) to host training sessions for teachers to share
best practices and learn new skills;
(C) to develop resources that teachers can use in
the classroom to improve civic education, applied
civics, and service-learning programs for students;
(D) to coordinate with other local organizations
and community-based services and programs to provide
hands-on civic learning development opportunities; or
(E) to support any other programs designed to
ensure that teachers have the requisite knowledge and
skills to successfully teach civic education and
applied civics.
(2) Grants.--
(A) Reservation of funds for high-need schools.--Of
the funds made available for grants under this
subsection, the Secretary shall reserve not less than
50 percent for grants to provide services for teachers
in high-need schools.
(B) General grants.--The remainder of the funds
made available for grants under this subsection (but
not more than 50 percent of such funds) shall be
granted on a competitive basis to eligible entities for
the purpose of teacher development in civic education,
applied civics, and service learning in schools.
(d) Development and Implementation of Effective Civic Education,
Applied Civics, and Service-Learning Programs.--
(1) In general.--An eligible entity may apply for a grant
under this section for activities to support effective civic
education, applied civics, and service-learning programs in
schools. Such grant may only be used--
(A) to establish a new, or improve an existing,
civic education, applied civics, or service-learning
program;
(B) to evaluate the effect of such programs on
participants and increase the effectiveness of such
programs with respect to--
(i) understanding of United States law,
history, and government;
(ii) voting and other forms of political
and civic engagement;
(iii) critical thinking and media literacy;
(iv) interest in employment, and careers,
in military, national, and public service; and
(v) the ability of participants to
collaborate and compromise with others to solve
problems;
(C) to develop and modify curricula relating to
civic education, applied civics, and service learning;
(D) to create and administer classroom activities,
thesis projects, individual or team projects,
internships, or community service activities related to
civics education;
(E) to collaborate with government entities,
nonprofit organizations, or consortia of such entities
and organizations to provide students with experiences
related to civic education; or
(F) to develop and support any other programs the
Secretary deems crucial to the efficacy of civic
education, applied civics, or service-learning
programs.
(2) Grants.--
(A) Reservation of funds for high-need schools.--Of
the funds made available for grants under this
subsection, the Secretary shall reserve not less than
50 percent for grants for programs for students in
high-need schools.
(B) General grants.--The remainder of the funds
made available for grants under this subsection (but
not more than 50 percent of such funds) shall be
granted on a competitive basis to eligible entities for
programs that develop and implement effective civic
education, applied civics, and service-learning
programs in schools.
(e) Matching Funds Requirements.--
(1) Requirements.--Except for grants for high-need schools
under subsections (c)(2)(A) and (d)(2)(A), the Federal share of
the cost of a program that receives a grant under this section,
whether the grant is provided directly or as a subgrant from
the original recipient of the grant, may not exceed 50 percent
of such cost.
(2) Calculation.--In providing for the remaining share of
the cost of carrying out the program receiving the grant, the
recipient--
(A) may provide for such share through
contributions in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated,
including facilities, equipment, or services; and
(B) may provide for such share through non-Federal
sources or from other Federal sources (other than funds
made available under Federal programs administered by
the Secretary).
(3) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive in whole or in part
the requirements of paragraph (1) with respect to a recipient
in any fiscal year if the Secretary determines that such a
waiver would be equitable due to a lack of available financial
resources at the local level.
(4) Report by recipient on other federal funds.--A
recipient of a grant to which this subsection applies shall
report to the Secretary the amount and source of any Federal
funds used to carry out the program for which the grant is
provided, other than funds made available under programs
administered by the Secretary, including the