Lawmakers Fight Proposed Budget Cuts for National-Service Programs

More than 30 members of the House of Representatives have signed a bipartisan letter asking the House Appropriations Committee to reject the 2009 budget cuts proposed by President Bush for national-service programs.

The proposals would prevent the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that operates the programs, from fulfilling its strategic plan of boosting the number of Americans who volunteer annually by 10 million, to 75 million, by 2010, the letter says.

“Americans have stepped forward in record numbers to serve, but funding cuts have prevented national service programs from growing at a rate to meet demand,” it adds.

President Bush, as part of an effort to rein in the federal deficit, in February proposed cutting the Corporation for National and Community Service’s program budget from $782.7-million in 2008 to $751.5-million in 2009. That followed several years of cuts that have steadily reduced the budget from its 2005 level of $856.6-million.

The letter to the Appropriations Committee was signed by the four co-chairmen of the House National Service Caucus—Doris Matsui, Democrat of California; Todd Platts, Republican of Pennsylvania; David Price, Democrat of North Carolina; and Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut—and 30 other lawmakers.

It proposes restoring the budget for the main AmeriCorps program, which provides grants to nonprofit groups that operate national-service programs, to its 2004 level of $312-million, compared with the administration’s proposal for $274.2-million (up from $256.8-million in 2008).

It also proposes increasing the budget for the National Civilian Community Corps, which sends trained volunteers to disaster areas, to $26.7-million, up from $23.8-million, saying it “continues to serve as a key program in the Gulf Coast’s long-term recovery efforts.” Mr. Bush proposed cutting that budget to $9.9-million.

The letter urges Congress to reject Mr. Bush’s proposal to cut the Senior Corps programs, which tap volunteers age 55 and older, from $213.8-million this year to $174-million in 2009. They propose a budget of $239.9-million.

The lawmakers said Congress should provide a “robust appropriation” for the national-service programs, calling them a “smart investment that leverages federal dollars to create a greater capacity to meet community need.”

A similar letter is now being circulated for signature in the U.S. Senate.