Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and struggling Democratic hopeful for the White House, has announced that if elected he would push to expand voluntary national service programs to all Americans.
In a policy paper released on Wednesday morning the former Maryland governor said he would double the number of spots available in the Peace Corps, the program for young Americans willing to volunteer abroad, and work to increase to 250,000 the number of spots of available in AmeriCorps, the program for those willing to volunteer within the United States.
In his policy statement O’Malley tried to differentiate himself both from frontrunner Hillary Clinton to his right and Vermont socialist Senator Bernie Sanders to his left by stating that “every young American should have the opportunity to serve his or her country through national service”.
The former Maryland governor also endorsed expanding current federal student loan programs to encourage increased volunteerism among college students.
O’Malley is mired in the single digits behind both former secretary of state Clinton and Sanders among Democratic primary voters.
