Keeping the Faith With AmeriCorps
New York Times Editorial

June 17, 2006

Only lately recovered from devastating budget cuts imposed by Congress three years ago, the nation's flagship program for volunteers, AmeriCorps, is again on the chopping block. Unless the Senate rescues it, or President Bush displays a sudden and unexpected burst of leadership, this proven force for good stands to be seriously harmed.

The current crisis originated with Mr. Bush. He voices strong support for AmeriCorps. Yet, the budget proposal he submitted to Congress in March called for eliminating the National Civilian Community Corps, an elite arm of AmeriCorps that is based on five regional campuses and is positioned to rapidly deploy well-trained teams to help out in national emergencies, like Hurricane Katrina.

The president's budget proposal also requests $20 million less than last year to support the work of other AmeriCorps members across the country, though AmeriCorps says it will use $13 million left over from the previous budget and make other adjustments to close that hole.

The relevant appropriations subcommittee in the House has approved even deeper cuts. Its revised spending bill spares the civilian corps, but slashes operational money for the rest of AmeriCorps by $60 million — $40 million more than the president requested. On top of that, the maximum educational stipend for AmeriCorps members — who spend up to a year performing valuable tasks like tutoring at-risk children and cleaning up dilapidated public parks — would be significantly reduced, from $4,725 to $4,100. In all, the amount available for AmeriCorps volunteers would be cut by more than 15 percent.

Luckily, this is not the final word. The Senate subcommittee is led by Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican. His active backing for AmeriCorps in the past raises hopes that he will work to preserve the program's financing as the annual budget waltz proceeds. Of course, the task would be a lot easier if the president would only remember that this is a social program he actually likes.