Congressional Champions Urge Appropriators to Invest in AmeriCorps

This spring, a bipartisan group of 100+ members of Congress signed letters to the leaders of the Appropriations Committees urging them to invest in AmeriCorps in fiscal year (FY) 2024. The letters were led by the co-chairs of the National Service Congressional Caucus: Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in the Senate, and Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA) and Doris Matsui (D-CA) in the House. In total, 47 Senators and 76 Representatives signed the letters.

Both letters listed the benefits of AmeriCorps in communities across the nation, thanked leadership for past increases in AmeriCorps funding, and noted that higher levels of funding for AmeriCorps is needed in FY24 to expand opportunities to serve, strengthen the impact of AmeriCorps programs and increase member benefits.

The Senate letter (read here) specifically asks for the subcommittee to work to “[build] on the President’s budget request and provid[e] an increase of $300 million.” Additional goals are detailed include expanding AmeriCorps to 100,000 members annually, and investing in member benefits so the living allowance “covers a participant’s basic expenses during their service term.”

Anticipating stronger constraints on appropriations than the Democratic-controlled Senate, the House letter (read here) requests “the highest possible funding level for AmeriCorps… in the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 2024) Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.”

Here is the full list of members who signed the letter in the Senate:

Here is the full list of members who signed in the House of Representatives: