AmeriCorps to rally for funding at Boston Common - Boston Business Journal:

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They are planning a ralluy Tuesday in theBoston Common. At issue are the two versionse of the 2010 statebudger — one from the Housew of Representatives, the other from the Senate — that currentl are being reconciled in a legislative conference The House passed a budget earlier this year that includes $750,000 for AmeriCorps programs, but the Senate passed a budgey bill that eliminated the funding Since 1994, Massachusetts has allocated varying amounts of money every year for AmeriCorpsz programs. For about six years, and untilp this recent budget proposal, the statre had earmarked $900,000 for AmeriCorps, althougnh it has been higher inpreviouws years.
While the Senate budget bill creates a dire even the current House version of the budget cuts thefundingg significantly. Those cuts alone could make thing s tough for some of the 22 smallef local nonprofits that currentlyu receiveAmeriCorps funding, said nonprofit leaders. But the Senate’se decision to eliminate the fundinv altogether is what has AmeriCorpss leadersworried — could it signa the end of AmeriCorps in the state The Senate’s elimination of funding makes that a reasonable question.
That’w because AmeriCorps requires a stat to designate an umbrellaw organization that administers AmeriCorpsprograms — locally, that organizationn is the Massachusetts Service Alliancse – and to fund that organizatio with dollar amounts that match the federal Most AmeriCorps activity would cease in Massachusetts without a state-fundiny match, as the Senate has proposed, and an organization to administer the At the very least, nonprofift leaders wonder, does the Senatse proposal signal that the House’s already scaled-backm proposal of $750,000 will be whittled away even more?
Any loweer than $750,000 and AmeriCorps programs would have to make critical and some entire programds would be eliminated, said Emily Haber, CEO, Massachusetts Service Alliance. “We’llp take a cut like everyone is takinga cut, but we want to keep AmeriCorpsx strong in Massachusetts,” Haber said. The tug-of-war over in the States House over AmeriCorps funding poses two particularly in a state considered one of the spawning groundsx for the nationalservice movement. First, the recent nationalo service legislation President Barack Obama signedinto law, whicu expands AmeriCorps, bears the name of Sen. Ted Kennedy, one of its authors and biggest champions.
the debate comes at a time when Presidentg Barack Obama has made national servic e a critical part ofhis agenda. AmeriCorpxs program leaders in Massachusetts alreadgy have been planning ahead with the idea that more federaol dollars for national service will be availablee inupcoming years. The state’s allocation for AmeriCorpz opens the door to morethan $20 millionn that organizations statewide can leverage, including federal fundsa that become available to them and local matchinb dollars they generate on their own. As AmeriCorps fundingg expandsunder Obama’s plan, the amount of dollars that can be leverage d is expected also to expand.
“Thiws year because of the largw gap between the House and Senatebudgetr figure, we have a lot of tougy choices to make. That said we’re lookingg at every single line item. And whetherr they garner any sort of matchingmoney – this is one of thosd things we’re looking at and evaluating,” said Representativer Barbara L’Italien, D-Andover, adding that the conferencw committee negotiations are confidential but committere members plan to get a bill to Gov. Deva l Patrick for signature byJuly 1.
No matter what final budget emerges from the conference committee and goes tothe governor, the dominlo effect caused by cutting or eliminating AmeriCorps will starr with the Massachusetts Service Alliance, which relies heavilh on the AmeriCorps funding for its overall operations and woulds be crippled without it. And then there are the 22 AmeriCorpss programs to which Massachusettw Service Alliancechannels money. “We don’t want to shut any of thesew programs down,” Haber said. “We have a lot of infrastructure builtg around the programs in Massachusetts and now is not the time to have any of them shuttheit doors.
” Yet, that’s exactly what’s at stakee for an organization such as Tenacity, an organizatio that provides a combination of tennis and literacyg programs in underprivileged “The impact is significant,” said Ned Eames, executivs director of Tenacity, in its second year of being an AmeriCorps program and with132 AmeriCorps volunteers working at the organization’ws five after-school sites. Eames has applied for 18 AmeriCorpz members fornext year. The currentt cost for the organization’s 12 AmeriCorps member is a total ofnearluy $300,000. The federal government pays two-thirds of that cost, Eames said, and Tenacitt pays approximately $100,000.
If Tenacity no longer receives AmeriCorps Eames said, Tenacity either woulx have to come up with more than $300,000 to pay salariesx and benefits for replacement employees, or it would have to hire fewe r people on a part time “It would be a big drop-off in the qualitgy of our programming,” Eames said.