On Thursday, June 30, the House Appropriations Committee passed their FY23 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The bill funds the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps agency) and all associated programs among other federal agencies. With passage by the Appropriations Committee, the bill will next go to the full House of Representatives in July.
The bill recommends $1.3 billion for the agency, including more than $522 million for AmeriCorps State and National (a $56 million increase over FY22) and $19.5 million for Commission Support Grants (a $444,000 increase over FY22). For the most part, the bill includes increases for all aspects of the agency’s budget over the FY22 enacted levels.
Please note these are not the final numbers, and the outlook in the Senate is fairly unclear at this point. ASC has learned that the Senate Appropriations Committee may not officially “mark-up” their appropriations bills, similar to FY22, but would rather release draft bills and explanatory text before August to serve as a negotiating point with the House.
Specifically, for CNCS programs, the House Appropriations Bill (FY23 House Mark) contains the following funding, policy, and report language:
FY23 House CNCS Funding Summary Chart.png
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View full-sizeDownload *PBR stands for President's Budget Request Policy Changes:
Continues the 1,200 hour service positions and Segal Education Awards.
Includes a new provision related to allowing individuals with Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status who successfully serve a term in AmeriCorps State and National, NCCC, or VISTA, to be eligible for a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award.
Continues a provision related to VISTA members being allowed to transfer Segal Education Awards.
Report Language:
CNCS General: Service Learning — Within the total for Operating Expenses, the Committee directs $20,000,000 for CNCS to support service-learning activities, such as the Summer of Service and Semester of Service, within existing programs. The Committee further recommends that CNCS prioritize grants directed to public schools and institutions of higher education in economically disadvantaged communities.
CNCS General: Civic Bridgebuilding — The Committee supports CNCS’ goal of uniting Americans through national service and recognizes that national service is a proven model of civic bridgebuilding. To advance these shared goals, the Committee directs $15,000,000 to CNCS for bridgebuilding activities, such as those modeled in the bipartisan Building Civic Bridges Act (H.R. 6843), within existing programs. These initiatives may include administering a grant program to support civic bridgebuilding programs and establish standardized criteria to track the effectiveness of funded projects and activities; providing training in civic bridgebuilding skills and techniques to AmeriCorps members and host sites; the establishment of a committee to advise on civic bridgebuilding initiatives at CNCS; the creation of a public research base focused on civic engagement, civic bridgebuilding, and civic renewal; and providing resources that can be publicly disseminated to support local civic bridgebuilding efforts, among other activities.
ASN: Digital Equity — The Committee recognizes that digital equity needs persist in underserved or marginalized communities at a time when more Americans than ever before depend on, or could significantly benefit from, access to digital services. The Committee recognizes the role that national service organization volunteers through CNCS could play in helping to meet the IT needs of these communities across the country while also supporting IT skills and career development among participating volunteers. The Committee encourages CNCS to support existing programs that would focus on digital equity and digital literacy projects for underserved communities.
Salaries & Expenses: Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) — Within the total, the Committee includes $15,000,000 to hire new staff, develop new capacity, and enhance core business functions to successfully stand up the Civilian Climate Corps program in partnership with other Federal agencies. These investments in staff and administrative capacity will support grantees’ work related to climate resilience, environmental stewardship, and climate mitigation, as well as AmeriCorps’ collaboration with other agencies implementing the CCC. (The DOL portion also contains $15 million for the CCC “which is the same as the fiscal year 2023 budget request. This new grant pilot will rely on strong DOL partnerships with other Federal agencies to focus on job training and paid community service for underrepresented populations in clean energy and climate mitigation.”)
ASC will continue to provide updates regarding the FY23 appropriations process in the months to come.
