March 12, 2009 | Read Time: 3 minutes
President Obama has proposed a spending increase for AmeriCorps and other national-service programs, as well as the creation of a “social-innovation fund” for nonprofit groups, as part of his 2010 budget priorities.
The president, making good on a campaign pledge to get more people involved in solving the country’s problems, proposed last month that the budget for the Corporation for National and Community Service jump to $1.13-billion in 2010.
That is up $261-million from the projected 2009 budget — and on top of $201-million that was just allocated to the agency in the economic-stimulus plan that President Obama signed last month. The new social-innovation fund would be set up within the corporation to help nonprofit groups test “promising new approaches to major challenges,” attract private and foundation money, and expand “research-proven programs,” according to a document that outlines the president’s 2010 budget plans.
The document also says the administration wants to:
- Set AmeriCorps, a program that places people in full-time or part-time jobs in nonprofit groups for 10 or 12 months, on a path to expand from its current 75,000 slots to 250,000, and increase the amount of the education grants earned by AmeriCorps members.
- Expand and improve Senior Corps programs, which use volunteers age 55 and older, to “tap the idealism and experience of this ‘baby boomer’ generation.”
- Give more money to Learn and Serve America, a program that awards grants to schools, colleges and universities, and nonprofit groups for projects that combine classroom lessons with community service.
- Allocate money to strengthen the management systems of the national-service agency.
The administration will present more-detailed budget proposals in April.
A Sense of Urgency
Congress, meanwhile, is considering several pieces of legislation that would accomplish the goals set out in the administration’s budget proposal.
In a speech to a joint session of Congress in February, President Obama called on lawmakers to pass the Serve America Act (S 277), a Senate bill that would more than triple participation in national-service programs like AmeriCorps, to 250,000 by 2013; create several new service programs; and provide money to help nonprofit groups recruit volunteers and spread innovative projects.
Rep. George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said the House is about to introduce its own bill to expand national-service programs and predicted that both houses would act quickly.
Mr. Miller said the deteriorating economy has added a new sense of urgency to efforts to get more people involved in tackling social problems. “We can’t afford not to do it,” he told reporters.
He was speaking after a hearing by his committee that showcased a variety of nonprofit, corporate, and military volunteer and service projects.
Mr. Miller said a new version of a previous national-service bill, with some changes requested by the administration, will be drawn up shortly. The House voted last spring on the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act (HR 5563), which lost by one vote due to procedural wrangling.
The bill would have expanded AmeriCorps slots to 100,000 by 2012. It also would have created several new programs, including a summer-of-service program for middleand high-school students, an Energy Conservation Corps, a Silver Scholarship Program for older people, and a “reserve corps” of AmeriCorps alumni to help during national emergencies.
Mr. Miller says the House bill would not differ greatly from the Senate bill, and the two houses would work out differences in a conference committee.
Separately, Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, both Democrats of Connecticut, announced in February that they had introduced four bills to expand service opportunities for students and older people and increase the education awards offered to AmeriCorps alumni.
The package includes a Semester of Service Act, the Summer of Service Act, the AmeriCorps: Together Improving Our Nation Act, and the Encore Service Act.
