WORK NOW Act introduced in Senate, would help nonprofit organizations including afterschool providers

Late last week Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) along with Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), introduced legislation to help nonprofit organizations meet an increase in demand for their services due to the coronavirus pandemic while helping newly unemployed Americans find work in nonprofit organizations. The Work Opportunities and Resources to Keep Nonprofit Organizations Well (WORK NOW) Act (S. 3747) would authorize a major new grant program to help nonprofit organizations — including afterschool and summer learning providers and other youth-serving organizations — retain their employees, scale their programs, and provide unemployed Americans with new jobs serving their communities.

In addition to Klobuchar, Schatz, Wyden, and Brown, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.). 

Afterschool providers along with other nonprofit organizations see increased need for programs that support children, youth, and families in a wide range of service, while charitable giving and other revenue streams have decreased as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Many nonprofits including afterschool programs have had to lay off workers and cut back on services, or are at risk of needing to do so.

The legislation authorizes $50 billion to create a program to be administered by the Treasury Department and allocates 78 percent of funds to state and local governments—with all funding channeled to eligible nonprofits meeting needs that have increased as a result of the pandemic and the attendant economic crisis. Twenty percent of funds are set aside for national nonprofit organizations to apply directly to the Treasury Department on behalf of themselves and to distribute funds to local chapters and affiliates across the nation. A two percent set aside of funds is provided for Indian Tribes.

The majority of federal funding must be used for employee compensation—paying the wages, salaries and benefits of either existing employees or new employees. Some funding may also be used to help nonprofits innovate in delivering services in new ways to meet the challenges imposed by the pandemic. Grant amounts to national intermediaries cannot exceed $100 million, except if the intermediary can demonstrate funds above $100 million are necessary for hiring new employees, not to exceed $300 million in total. Grant amounts to a local nonprofit organization cannot exceed $3 million.

Organizations meeting certain criteria will be prioritized, including a specific call out for “out-of-school time youth service providers.” Other prioritization criteria include those organizations located in or serving rural communities and those that can scale service delivery quickly and hire new workers.

The legislation could be included in upcoming comprehensive legislation designed to help communities recover from the pandemic. Friends of afterschool are invited to reach out to their members of Congress to share how local programs are helping children and families during these challenging times.