Event
Summary
- Click
here for the funding-summary document delivered
to congressional offices by Hill Day Participants.
On September 14, over 135 representatives of the
national service field, including alumni, board members,
and corporate sponsors, participated in the annual
Voices for National Service Hill Day in Washington,
DC. The group visited with more than 110 congressional
offices to discuss the federal investment in the
Corporation for National and Community Service and
its core programs. The Hill Day was a critical opportunity
to share with Congress stories of service programs’ performance
and impact, as key lawmakers continue working on
the budget for the coming year.
An opening program with Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA),
a senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee,
and two co-chairs of the National Service Congressional
Caucus, Representatives Tom Osborne (R-NE) and David
Price (D-NC), launched the Hill Day. Each legislator
remarked on why it is important to visit Congress
annually and to update policymakers on the impact
AmeriCorps is having across the country, in nearly
every congressional district.
While working to grow broad bipartisan support for
national service, Hill Day participants reinforced
three messages:
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We support the funding levels for the programs
administered by the Corporation for National
and Community Service as approved by the Senate
Appropriations Committee on July 18, 2006: $383
million for AmeriCorps, $217 million for the
Senior Corps, $34 million for Learn and Serve
America; and $26 million for the National Civilian
Community Corps (NCCC). The Senate funding levels
are more robust than the President’s request
and the House recommendation, providing the Corporation
for National and Community Service $53.6 million
more than the House and rejecting the Administration’s
request to eliminate the NCCC.
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We support sustaining the Segal AmeriCorps Education
Award at its statutory level, $4,725 per fulltime
member. In its FY07 Labor-HHS Appropriations
Committee Report, the House recommends cutting
the benefit by $675. Language in the report states
that the AmeriCorps Education Award should track
the maximum Pell Grant, which is currently $4,050.
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We ask Congress to reverse the three-year trend
of declining funding for national service programs
and to restore Fiscal Year 2004 funding levels
for AmeriCorps ($441 million) and Learn and Serve
America ($43 million) in Fiscal Year 2008.
Congress will not return to Washington until after
the November mid-term elections. They are expected
to resume consideration of the nine unfinished spending
bills during a post-election session. During this
time, for steps you can take to support national
service funding, visit www.VoicesForService.org/action.htm.
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