Senate President Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, wants to start a Chesapeake Conservation Corps to create jobs.
The corps, which would be similar to AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps, would include a volunteer program, with a stipend, for adults 18 to 25. There would also be the opportunity for course credits, student loan forgiveness, and green jobs training.
Even though the Maryland Department of Natural Resources already has a conservation corps program the Chesapeake Conservation Corps would have a broader scope, according to Vicki Gruber, Miller’s chief of staff. Volunteers with the Chesapeake corps would go into schools and communities to help them go green, something the DNR program does not do.
In the original bill, funding for the corps came from the Environmental Trust Fund – $1 million each fiscal year as a matter of fact. The fund, collected via an environmental surcharge on energy bills, supports the Maryland Power Plant Research Program. Since the bill was first introduced, funding has been dropped to $250,000 a year for a limited time to use as seed money. Right now the $250,000 is being used by the research program for energy studies, so the money would be reallocated for the conservation corps for a few years, Gruber said. However, the energy fund is projected to have $300,000 deficit in Fiscal Year 2010 and a $1 million deficit in Fiscal Year 2013.
Several environmental groups support the bill and the Maryland Park Service and the DNR are working with Miller’s office and the Chesapeake Bay Trust to add some amendments to the bill. The bill is sponsored by Miller and co-sponsored by 26 other senators.
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