FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ranit Schmelzer, ranit@schmelzerstrategies.com
AmeriCorps on the Chopping Block in its 30th Anniversary Year
House bill proposes to defund thousands of nonprofit and community-based organizations
Washington, DC (June 27, 2024) – For thirty years, AmeriCorps members have provided critical services to communities in need across the nation, from responding to natural disasters and food insecurity to providing support for veterans, seniors, and students, and much more. Yet today, AmeriCorps faces an existential crisis.
This morning, the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee met to consider its fiscal year 2025 bill. The measure was approved by the Subcommittee. The bill eliminates the AmeriCorps grants program, AmeriCorps NCCC, the State Service Commissions, which allow governors across the country to address problems in their communities, and the National Service Trust, which is used to fund education awards for AmeriCorps alumni who successfully complete their service.
“If adopted, this budget would serve as a death knell for AmeriCorps. It would end our nation’s thirty-year investment in national service, taking away vital services from the Americans and communities that need them most,” said AnnMaura Connolly, President of Voices for National Service.
“AmeriCorps members are the people power that local nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations train and deploy to respond to our country’s most immediate and critical needs. If enacted, today’s House action would devastate the work of thousands of groups like the American Red Cross, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and Habitat for Humanity, and other charitable service organizations that Americans count on every day.”
“The national service field calls on both the House and Senate to reject this devastating proposal. With the explosion of needs in our country, now is the time to invest in AmeriCorps, not cut it.”
In fact, AmeriCorps needs an increase in fiscal year 2025 appropriations. An additional $345 million above the FY24 enacted level will restore AmeriCorps positions to the 2023 levels (more than 75,000 AmeriCorps and 143,000 AmeriCorps Seniors positions) and protect the long overdue strategic investments that were made with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, such as increasing the AmeriCorps living allowance to a minimum of $11/hour. This additional investment will ensure communities can count on AmeriCorps for help where it is needed most – at the same level they receive today.
A copy of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations FY 2025 bill is available here. Additional details can be found here.
To learn more or to speak with AnnMaura Connolly, please contact Ranit Schmelzer at ranit@schmelzerstrategies.com.
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Voices for National Service advocates for AmeriCorps programs that respond to the country’s most immediate and critical challenges, from natural disasters to education, supporting veterans, and more. Founded in 2003, Voices for National Service has built strong bipartisan support among our nation’s leaders for AmeriCorps, a public-private partnership that yields more than $17 in benefits to our country for every $1 invested by Congress. Voices for National Service works to strengthen public awareness and understanding among policymakers of the local impact of the 210,000 members of AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors who support nonprofit, faith-based and community organizations on the front lines of our communities – an effort that unites our country and deepens civic character.