Tag Archives: U.S. House of Representatives

03.15.10
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Senate Recognizes VISTA’s 45th Anniversary

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution honoring the work of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), for its 45 years of work towards alleviating poverty, and other accomplishments.

Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-VA) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced the resolution (S.Res.449), and were joined by several co-sponsors. Rockefeller first lived in West Virginia as a VISTA, when he was 27 years old.

The resolution recognizes the more than 175,000 VISTAs who have served since 1965, and their creation of “many successful and sustainable community initiatives, including Head Start centers, credit unions, and neighborhood watch groups.” The resolution honors VISTAs’s work on diverse poverty-related issues such as health care, technology, crime/recidivism, housing, and literacy. The resolution also highlights these numbers:

  • 7,000 VISTAs serve each year
  • Annually, VISTAs bring in $100 million in cash and in-kind donations to their organizations
  • Also each year, VISTAs recruit 1 million volunteers who engage in 10 million hours of volunteer service.

Read the entire Senate resolution here. Oddly, the House introduced a similar bill (H.RES.1152) last week, but it wasn’t passed; instead it’s been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

According to a statement today from the Corporation for National and Community Service, which operates VISTA, the resolution marks the official kick off of VISTA’s 45th anniversary celebration — a series of events and celebrations that will take place this year.

Celebrations will include a photography exhibit of VISTA photography from 1968, an effort to collect and share stories of VISTAs, and I’ll be launching a podcast episode featuring three VISTAs who’ve served across the decades during AmeriCorps Week in May.

Are you a VISTA or former VISTA? How will you commemorate the 45th anniversary of the organization?

07.27.09
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NY Times Editorial Voices Strong Support for AmeriCorps

The NY Times logoSaturday, a New York Times editorial argued strongly for full funding of the Kennedy Serve America Act — the appropriation for which will be considered this week in the Senate.

Last week, the House of Representatives appropriated $90M less to implement the Kennedy Serve America Act than Pres. Obama requested in his proposed budget. In response, The New York Times printed an editorial urging Congress to fund the Act which was passed into law in April and could greatly expand the AmeriCorps family of programs and the number Continue reading →

07.11.09
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The House Approves $450M for More Peace Corps, but Senate Committee Approves $373.4M

Rep. Nita Lowey, Chair, House Appropriations Cmte

Rep. Nita Lowey, Chair, House Appropriations Cmte

A few weeks ago, the House Appropriations Committee recommended increasing Peace Corps funding to $450 million. Thursday, the House voted to approve funding at that level. The same day, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to match Obama’s more modest $373.4M budget request for the agency.

While the Corporation for National and Community Service — the agency that coordinates and oversees the AmeriCorps family of service programs — had a disappointing day in a House subcommittee yesterday, Peace Corps won a huge increase in funding as its supporters in the House defeated an amendment that would have only moderately increased funding for the agency in the fiscal year 2010.

The increase — if matched in the Senate — would mean Peace Corps could start ramping up Volunteer numbers, as Obama has called for doubling Peace Corps by the agency’s 50th anniversary in 2011.

According to the National Peace Corps Association’s blog the Peace Corps Polyglot: Continue reading →

07.10.09
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House Subcommittee Rejects Full Funding of the Kennedy Serve America Act

David Obey (D-WI), Chair House Appropriations Subcommittee

David Obey (D-WI), Chair House Appropriations Subcommittee

Update, July 17th: The full House Appropriations Markup on the 2010 Labor, Health, and Education Appropriations Bill maintained the subcommittee’s recommendation to fund the Corporation for National and Community Service at $90 M less than Obama’s requested budget amount.

The House Appropriations subcommittee disappointed service supporters yesterday by offering a lower funding figure than needed to implement the Kennedy Serve America Act.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved only $1,059,016,000 in funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) as a part of the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill.

This figure is $90 million short of the President’s full budget request of $1.149 billion, and does not fully fund the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act. Implementation of the Act is dependent on appropriations, but the Appropriations Continue reading →

03.31.09
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Kennedy Serve America Act/GIVE Act PASSES – On Its Way to Obama’s Desk

Update, April 21, 2009: President Obama signs the Serve America Act into law. To take effect October 1, 2009.

Guest contributor Put Barber is the Editor of the Nonprofit FAQ at Idealist.org.

The drama about a massive expansion in the national service programs is over. The House of Representatives adopted the Senate version of the Serve America Act on a vote of 275 to 149  at about 3 pm EST today. See how representatives voted on the Senate’s amendments to H.R. 1388.

The bill is the same as the version of the bill that passed the House last week, but the Senate version is different in several key ways.

Symbolically, the bill was renamed in honor of Senator Edward Kennedy, one of the original sponsors, who is currently undergoing treatment for a dangerous brain cancer.

Substantively, the restrictive language about advocacy that had been inserted into the House bill at the last minute was removed.

And interestingly, the Senate version includes start-up funding for a program of federal support for state-level nonprofit capacity-building centers across the country.

And, of course, at the headline level, the bill authorizes an increase from 75,000 to 250,000 in the numbers of enrollees in the various programs of the Corporation for National and Community Service — AmeriCorps, VISTA, and several others.

A good introduction to the details of the new programs can be found through the link on this Independent Sector website. Here is the text of the Serve America Act, as passed by the Senate (and approved today in the House) (PDF).