Buttigieg rolls out national service plan

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday rolled out a national service plan that would include 1 million members by 2026. 

The plan, “A New Call to Service,” would give additional funds to programs like AmeriCorps and increase the number of their positions to 250,000, which, according to The Associated Press, would cost $20 billion over 10 years.

{mosads}Buttigieg also aims to create new organizations like a Climate Corps, Community Health Corps and Intergenerational Service Corps.

“National service can help us to form connections between very different kinds of Americans, as was my experience in the military,” said the South Bend, Ind., mayor in a statement.

“I served alongside and trusted my life to people who held totally different political views,” added Buttigieg, an Afghanistan veteran. “You shouldn’t have to go to war in order to have that kind of experience, which is why I am proposing a plan to create more opportunities for national service.”

Buttigieg, who is among more than two dozen Democrats vying for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, is expected to discuss the plan during a trip to Iowa later Wednesday.

— This report was updated at 10:07 a.m.