The Bill Would Create Non-Partisan Pilot Program to Support Community Civic Bridgebuilding, Build Relationships Across Lines of Difference
On July 10, the bipartisan Building Civic Bridges Act (H.R. 4329) was reintroduced for consideration during the 119th Congress by U.S. Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (PA- 5), Andy Barr (KY-6), Glenn Thompson (PA-15), and Lucy McBath (GA-6). The bill positions the federal government as a key partner in healing political polarization within communities and strengthening our nation’s democracy. The legislation was initially introduced for consideration during the 117th Congress by former U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-6) and U.S. Representative Andy Barr (KY-6) and was inspired in part by recommendations in the Academy’s Our Common Purpose report. It is anticipated that there will be companion legislation reintroduced in the U.S. Senate later this year.
The legislation establishes an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding within the Corporation for National and Community Service (which administers AmeriCorps and Senior Corps) to support civic bridgebuilding programs across the nation by funding nonprofits, public institutions, schools, and religious groups who are striving to heal toxic polarization. The bill defines civic bridgebuilding as “evidence-based activities that foster respect between diverse communities; supports social cohesion and diminishes polarization; forges a sense of common civic purpose; and seeks to address public concerns such as unmet human, education, health care, environmental, or public safety needs.” The bill also supports research on civic engagement and social cohesion and supports the training of AmeriCorps members in civic bridgebuilding skills and techniques.
While the prior version of the bill included some federal funding, the reintroduced legislation provides that all funding will come from private donations. This takes advantage of AmeriCorps’ preexisting authorization to accept private dollars to fund its programming.
The BCBA is consistent with Strategy 4 in the Our Common Purpose report, which calls for expansion of the nation’s civic bridging capacity and investment in the leaders who drive civic renewal. In furtherance of its commitment to strengthen civic culture within communities across the nation, last fall, the Academy released Habits of Heart and Mind: How to Fortify Civic Culture, the final report from the Academy’s Civic Culture Working Group. That report highlights seven ways to strengthen our nation’s civic culture and provides examples of organizations that have been effective at civic culture programming and the development of metrics to measure change.
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