AmeriCorps, the Clinton-era civic program, will now receive its full $184 million in federal funding President Donald Trump froze after he took office.
The White House Office of Management and Budget confirmed on Friday that it would release the funds. A group of 24 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration after it froze AmeriCorps’ funding, but that lawsuit never made it to court.
AmeriCorps primary mission is to support state and local community service programs through the placement of generally young volunteers at national organizations across the country.
Since its inception, many programs have become reliant on the influx of volunteers. The release of the funds means those programs will be able to continue, CT Mirror reports.
“This is a good day for programs across Connecticut that have helped stock our food pantries, tutored our kids, assisted homebound seniors, supported our veterans, and helped combat the opioid epidemic,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a press statement. “These cuts were irrational, cruel and lawless, and deeply hurtful to people and communities across Connecticut.”
In June, a court order granted a preliminary injunction reinstating hundreds of AmeriCorps programs, and it stopped AmeriCorps from making any cuts without establishing formal rules for how and why cuts were being made.
In defiance of that order, the White House Office of Management and Budget refused to release the funding, Tong said.
“In the face of what would have been a blistering legal defeat, the Trump Administration chose not to defend the indefensible and will now finally release all $184 million in AmeriCorps funding,” he added.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also celebrated the decision, calling it an “important victory for the dedicated AmeriCorps volunteers across the country and the communities they serve each day.”
“For decades, AmeriCorps has provided critical programs that provide education, health care, and other vital services to those in need. Thanks to the hard work of this coalition, that work will now continue,” he said.
Last year in Connecticut, AmeriCorps placed 2,255 members and volunteers in 253 service programs throughout the state. That investment was equivalent to a $12.4 million investment in state services, according to Tong’s office.
In Kentucky during the same period, AmeriCorps paid for 5,289 member and volunteers across 783 service locations, which was equivalent to a $33.7 million investment in state services, according to the Kentucky Lantern.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear noted that, since 1994, a year after AmeriCorps began, more than 17,000 Kentucky residents have served approximately 26 million hours with the organization, and earned education awards totaling more than $66 million.
