For the third consecutive year, Donald Trump’s annual budget proposal calls for the elimination of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). This is the federal agency that oversees national service and volunteering efforts, including AmeriCorps, VISTA, Conservation Corps (the modern-day CCC) and Senior Corps. This is a part of Trump’s ongoing war on volunteerism.
The annual budget of CNCS is $1.08 billion, less than 0.03 percent of the overall federal budget. For the past two years, the USA Congress has rejected Trump’s elimination proposals,
AmeriCorps members are well known for their essential response and recovery efforts following natural disasters in the USA. For instance, For a year and a half after the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, AmeriCorps members created a missing persons call center, transported volunteers into the field to help with debris removal, moved people from temporary to permanent housing, delivered donated items to families, assisted with minor repair jobs, and coordinated volunteer efforts by various individuals and groups, both local folks and people coming in from other parts of the USA. You can read more in this story by the Joplin Globe. I warned via this blog in 2017 about this possibly happening.
I’ve written about this before, in 2017. And then I wrote about the attempt for this to happen in 2018. And as I said then: I have seen, first hand, the impact that these national service members have had on nonprofit and public institutions, and those they serve, across this nation. These programs are a part of what
If you are a US citizen, I strongly encourage you to:
- Call your Congressional Representative and two US Senators and share your opinion about national service funding. Calling or sending a postal letter is most effective; emails are too easily ignored.
- Look online, particularly via social media, for efforts to publicly support national service.
- Contact your local newspapers with a letter to the editor in support of CNCS programs.
- Help local nonprofits post information on their web site and via social media about the
difference national service members have made in supporting community goals and improving the quality of life in your community.
And to think that, earlier this year, there was a call to expand national service by the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service, a federal panel.
It’s not enough for you to read this blog and be outraged: you must take action or this is going to happen.
Update May 9, 2019: The US House Appropriations Committee rejected Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service. The committee also introduced an FY20 spending bill to fund CNCS at $1.14 billion, an increase of $55 million above the FY2019 enacted level. You can find more details about how much funding the House Appropriations Committee has proposed for each CNCS program in this legislative update.