Yesterday, Sandra Hansen, Executive Director of Iowa Campus Compact, sent us an email with news of some exciting political happenings in the Hawkeye State!
Each year college students spend millions of hours volunteering to make their communities a better place to live. … Iowa has the chance to set a new precedent for National Service by exempting the living allowance and Education Award from being taxed. … This is something that needs to be acted on quickly.
If you live in Iowa and would like to take action or simply want to learn more about this exciting piece of legislation, click here for text of the entire email. The National Service Express will get into Des Moines in just a couple short weeks. We’ll have the full story for you then!
This is not the first time that the value of the Eli Segal Education Award, given at the successful completion of AmeriCorps members’ term of service, has been under scrutiny. Originally designed to give civic-minded Americans access to and opportunity through higher education, the Segal Education Award has, over time, lost its value with the rising costs of college. Last week, we met Devin and Peter, who are on a similar crusade in Minnesota.
In October, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton announced her plan to increase the Segal Education Award from $4,725 to $10,000 at Plymouth State University. Following the event, Senator Clinton also signed the ServeNext Presidential Pledge to Expand National Service, which supports an increase in AmeriCorps’ ranks by 100,000 members beflre the end of the next President’s first term.
