House Debates FY2024 Labor-HHS Appropriations

This week, the US House of Representatives considered H.R. 5894, the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. As we have previously reported, the House’s approach to the annual Labor-HHS appropriations bill, which provides funding for AmeriCorps, differs substantially from the bipartisan Senate bill. The House Majority is seeking to make deep cuts to domestic discretionary spending levels, which would be devastating to our nation’s social programs. This approach undermines the Fiscal Responsibility Act, legislation that President Biden and then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiated in May, that suspended the debt limit and established discretionary spending limits for two years. Spending caps for FY24 were agreed upon in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, but some members of the House are attempting to provide substantially less.

As proposed, the House Labor-HHS bill would reduce AmeriCorps funding by 50 percent to $660.9 million—the lowest level of funding in nearly 30 years. Additionally, the bill would eliminate all funding for the Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards, AmeriCorps VISTA, the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), the Volunteer Generation Fund, and State Commission Support Grants. The bill would include deep cuts to AmeriCorps State and National, Senior Companions and the Foster Grandparents programs. If enacted, the House Labor-HHS bill would eliminate over 61,000 AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors positions, human capital that nonprofits across the country rely upon to deliver services to millions of Americans. 

In response, Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA) filed an amendment to restore funding for AmeriCorps. While their amendment was generally symbolic, these lawmakers wanted the record to reflect that Congress should renegotiate the spending bill and invest in AmeriCorps. As we expected, the House Rules Committee did not accept the Matsui-Kilmer amendment, denying Reps. Matsui and Kilmer the opportunity to discuss the impact of AmeriCorps on the House floor. Voices for National Service released this statement in response to the House Labor-HHS bill and the Matsui-Kilmer amendment. 

The House is expected to adjourn early for the Thanksgiving recess, leaving Capitol Hill without a clear path forward on the Labor-HHS bill. News reports suggest that House leadership does not have the votes needed to pass the spending bill. While House appropriators continue to try to advance the rest of the annual appropriations bills, it is unclear when they will next revisit this bill and take a vote on the floor. 

AMERICORPS AGENCY BUDGET