42 U.S.C. § 12606 — Approval process for approved positions

(a) Timing and recording rules. (1) In general. No matter what other laws say, when the Corporation approves a national service, summer of service, or silver scholar position, it must: (A) approve the position at the moment it either (i) signs a binding agreement with the person who will serve, or (ii) — if that doesn't apply — gives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement to an organization to run the program the position is part of; and (B) record, as an obligation, its best estimate of the future cost of the award tied to that position. This estimate uses a formula based on historical rates — how often people actually enroll, earn, and use these awards. (2) The formula. The Corporation must consult the Director of the Congressional Budget Office when building this formula. (3) Certification report. Each year, the Corporation's Chief Executive Officer must send Congress's authorizing committees a report certifying the Corporation is following paragraph (1). (4) When this applies. These rules apply to every position approved starting in fiscal year 2010 and every year after. (b) Reserve account. (1) Setting it up. No matter what other laws say, the Corporation must create a reserve account inside the National Service Trust. Each year, it must put money into this account — for fiscal year 2010, a portion of leftover funds appropriated for 2010 or earlier; for 2011 and later years, a portion of that year's appropriated funds — drawn from specific national service funding laws, as long as that money remains available. (2) Using the money. The Corporation can't spend money from the reserve account until it either decides the money isn't needed to pay awards for already-approved positions, or it commits the money to pay those exact awards. (c) Audits. Independent certified or licensed public accountants must audit, every year, the Corporation's accounts for these positions and its records showing how it estimated obligations under (a)(1)(B). The audit results go into the annual report required by (a)(3). (d) When the money is available. Except as (b) limits it, all the money described in section 12601(a)(1)-(3) is available to pay national service, summer of service, and silver scholar awards under section 12604.