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:
- Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
- Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
- Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
- Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
- Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE)
- Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA)
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)
- Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
- Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
- Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH)
- Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
- Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
- Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
- Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
- Sen. Angus King, Jr. (I-ME)
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)
- Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA)
- Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
- Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
- Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)
- Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)
- Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA)
- Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI)
- Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
- Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
- Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ)
- Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN)
- Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)
- Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
- Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA)
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
- Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT)
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Here is the full list of members who signed in the House of Representatives:
- Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA)
- Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA)
- Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX)
- Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
- Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA)
- Rep. Don Beyer, Jr. (D-VA)
- Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA)
- Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
- Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)
- Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA)
- Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL)
- Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA)
- Rep. André Carson (D-IN)
- Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL)
- Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA)
- Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI)
- Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN)
- Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO)
- Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL)
- Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)
- Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA)
- Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)
- Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
- Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA)
- Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
- Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA)
- Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME)
- Del. Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR)
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
- Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT)
- Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY)
- Rep. James Himes (D-CT)
- Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV)
- Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA)
- Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA)
- Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL)
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA)
- Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ)
- Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH)
- Rep. John Larson (D-CT)
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
- Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
- Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA)
- Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)
- Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)
- Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA)
- Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO)
- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
- Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)
- Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH)
- Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ)
- Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN)
- Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
- Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA)
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
- Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
- Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD)
- Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)
- Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
- Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI)
- Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA)
- Rep. David Scott (D-GA)
- Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL)
- Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)
- Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI)
- Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA)
- Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA)
- Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM)
- Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
- Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
- Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY)
- Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL)
- Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA)
- Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL)