The House Education and Labor Committee today approved an amendment to the GIVE Act offered by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-Amsterdam) and Committee Chairman George Miller (D-California) which would establish a "Social Innovation Fund" for people who identify unique and innovative solutions to community issues. The fund would provide seed money to so-called "social entrepreneurs" and other non-profit and charitable groups to implement their solutions, leverage public-private partnerships, and replicate their successes in other communities. The idea of a Social Innovation Fund has been supported by President Barack Obama.
"There are creative people in our communities who are working on a daily basis to solve the social problems that they see," said Rep. Tonko. "But most of these people and the organizations that support them don't have the money to implement and expand their initiatives. This amendment will provide seed money to help put these programs in place, expand them to other communities and attract private dollars to the equation in the process. This is a country full of innovators and The Social Innovation Fund will use these principles to implement positive change in our communities."
Rep. Tonko also strongly advocated for another provision of the bill establishing a "Clean Energy Corps" which would engage in volunteerism in their communities on clean energy projects, including:
•Weatherizing homes •Construction of green housing units •Energy audits •Installing green technology, like solar panels •Repairing and greening existing infrastructure, such as mass transit, hospitals and schools •Educating students on green energy •Developing local recycling programs •Cleaning up local parks and rivers The GIVE Act (Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education), H.R. 1388, is bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing volunteerism and community action to help get the country through the difficult economy. The bill will triple the number of Americorps volunteers to 250,000, and increase the education awards volunteers receive in exchange for their service to provide incentive for more students to get involved while getting help to pay for college. It would also establish a Veterans Corps to meet the unique needs of veterans and military families.
The Education and Labor Committee voted to send the bill to the House floor. It may be considered as soon as next week.
