Fighting for the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act July 15, 2009

Posted by equaljusticeworks in AmeriCorps, ServiceNation, public service.
Tags: Service Nation, national service, ServiceNation, Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, fund Serve America Act, Be the Change Inc, funding Corporation for National and Community Service, President Obama budget request, new AmeriCorps positions
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From ServiceNation:

As you know, Congress passed this landmark legislation [the Serve America Act] earlier this year. But now there’s one more hurdle before the Act can go into effect: making sure it gets enough funding.

Last week, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees met to determine the budget for the Corporation for National and Community Service and recommended $1.059 billion – fully $90 million less than President Obama asked for.

If Congress doesn’t fund the CNCS to the fullest, thousands of Americans will lose their opportunity to serve their communities.

These kinds of issues often fly under the radar — so it’s crucial that you and I show Congress that we’re paying attention. Use this simple tool to write your members of Congress and urge them to fully fund the Kennedy Serve America Act.

Congress often works in complicated ways. Just because the Serve America Act was passed in April doesn’t mean the funding is guaranteed for the law to take effect.

Right now, thousands of Americans must wait for the law to receive funding before they can start serving their communities and improving people’s lives.

President Obama has requested $1.149 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service to implement the new initiatives in the Serve America Act — a 29% increase from the agency’s previous budget. This funding would help create 10,000 new AmeriCorps positions, support 500,000 volunteers in the Senior Corps, and strengthen a whole range of additional service programs.

With our country still working through these tough economic challenges, now is not the time to cut funding for programs that put people to work and help them gain new skills by serving fellow Americans. Help make sure Congress gives them the funding they need — write the members of the Appropriations Committees today:

http://tools.bethechangeinc.org/approps

This battle will be a decisive moment for the service movement. We can’t stop now — when we’re so close to putting the Kennedy Serve America Act into effect.