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Earlier today the President released his budget request for fiscal year 2005. I am very pleased to report that once again President Bush has demonstrated his strong support for the Corporation and its programs by proposing a significant increase in our budget.
The proposed 2005 budget, which covers the fiscal year starting October 1, 2004, requests $1.018 billion for the Corporation and its programs. This represents an increase of $82 million or 9 percent over the 2004 enacted levels. If enacted, this budget would allow us to engage more Americans than ever in service to their communities - 600,000 senior volunteers, 75,000 AmeriCorps members, and more than 1.5 million youth in service-learning activities. Coming on the heels of the historic increase recently enacted for AmeriCorps, the 2005 budget request is another strong affirmation of the value of national and community service and the good our programs and grantees accomplish for our nation.
Here are some highlights about this budget request:
- It proposes $46 million for Learn and Serve America, $3 million more than the level of funding Learn and Serve America has received every year since 1995. The additional funds proposed will be targeted toward providing high-quality training for educators in service-learning.
- The budget requests a $12 million increase for RSVP that will enable Senior Corps to reach the President's goal of 600,000 volunteers for the first time ever. In addition, it requests $20 million for the Silver Scholarships program, which will train and deploy 10,000 seniors to tutor young children in their communities. Each tutor who volunteers 500 hours will receive a $1,000 scholarship that can be transferred to a grandchild or other young person.
- The budget will support 75,000 AmeriCorps members, continuing the record high level set in the 2004 budget recently signed by the President.
- The combined request for AmeriCorps Grants and the National Service Trust is $442 million, which is exactly the same amount as received in 2004. While within this total the AmeriCorps grants line item appears to be $20 million less than the 2004 amount, in fact because of the need to transfer 2004 funds to the Trust and other factors we are confident that the actual 2005 grant awards will be the same or even greater in 2005 than in 2004.
- The National Service Trust request for AmeriCorps education awards is $146 million.
- The request for AmeriCorps*VISTA is $96.4 million, an increase of $2.6 million over fiscal 2004. This funding will support more than 6,500 AmeriCorps*VISTA members, and all AmeriCorps*VISTAs will have the option of electing the education award.
- The budget requests $27 million for AmeriCorps*NCCC to support 1,250 members, and includes much-needed funds for one-time facility improvements at the five campuses.
- The budget requests $10 million for Challenge Grants and $4 million for Next Generation Grants -significant increases over 2004 levels. The increased funding will help meet the huge demand for these two highly promising new grant programs.
- Special Volunteer Programs also received a request for a $5 million increase, indicating the faith the President places in our programs in helping to provide assistance in the area of Homeland Security.
- The budget restores the operational and administrative line accounts required to oversee the Corporation's large network of programs and support its aggressive management reform agenda. Several accounts were not fully funded in the 2004 budget, including program administration, evaluation, and training and technical assistance. The 2005 budget restores those accounts, doubles investment in employee training, supports further improvements in the web-based grants management system, and provides funds for more active grantee oversight, including regular site visits and targeted technical assistance for high-risk grantees.
The release of the President's budget is just the first step in a long journey. Next come appropriations hearings in the House and Senate later this spring, followed by committee mark-ups, floor consideration, conference committees, and more. We will keep you informed of key developments concerning our budget as they occur. More information on the 2005 budget, including a press release, and the sections of the President's budget that deal with the Corporation and its programs, are available online at www.nationalservice.gov.
This budget request is a sign of how vital our programs are to President Bush's goal of creating a new culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in our nation. Our employees, our members and volunteers, and the tens of thousands of community and faith-based organizations that are getting results and making a difference on the local level should feel that their work is being recognized and appreciated at the highest levels.
David Eisner
Chief Executive Officer
Corporation for National and Community Service
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