House Appropriations Committee Votes to Increase National Service Funding

The House Appropriations Committee approved a draft fiscal year 2020 spending bill that includes $1.14 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).

In total, the Labor-HHS-Education bill includes $189.9 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $11.7 billion over FY19 enacted levels and an increase of $47.8 billion over the President’s FY20 budget request.

The bill rejects the White House’s recommendation to provide only enough funding to shutdown CNCS. Instead, the House bill increases national service funding by $55 million above the FY19 enacted level. Within the total amount for CNCS, the bill includes increases for AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Volunteer Generation Fund.

The House provides sufficient funding to increase the stipend for volunteers participating in the Foster Grandparents Program and Senior Companion Program from $2.65/hour to $3.00. The last stipend increase occurred in 2002.

Senate appropriators are expected to mark up their bill in June. Members of Congress in both the House and Senate are also advocating for a new budget deal that would raise budget caps and allow for more federal funding to be allocated across federal programs. Appropriations decisions must be finalized by October 1, when federal FY20 begins, to avoid a government shutdown.

Corporation for National and Community Service Budget