HR 22

WHEREAS, Congress created the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal agency for volunteering and service that helps millions of Americans improve the lives of their fellow citizens through service; and

WHEREAS, The CNCS core programs include AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Social Innovation Fund, which support projects in six priority areas: disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families; and

WHEREAS, AmeriCorps Week 2017 is celebrated from March 4, 2017, to March 11, 2017, inclusive, to recognize the over one million individuals who have served as AmeriCorps members since 1994, the 1.4 billion hours of service to this nation they have contributed, the 80,000 members working this year, the 2.3 million community volunteers managed or mobilized each year, and the 21,600 unique sites that AmeriCorps members served last year; and

WHEREAS, AmeriCorps state and national programs support a wide range of local service programs, including providing grants to local organizations and agencies committed to using national service to address critical community needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment; and

WHEREAS, An excellent example of a local program supported by AmeriCorps grants is the Ontario-Montclair Promise Scholars program, run by Ontario-Montclair Schools Foundation, which works to ensure that all students have opportunities to achieve their college and career dreams through postsecondary education opportunities; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, the Ontario-Montclair Promise Scholars program used AmeriCorps members to facilitate all of the programs direct services, including approximately 2,200 visits to community colleges by fifth graders, 2,200 presentations to sixth graders from business leaders regarding their college and career pathways, 2,200 visits to universities by eighth graders, 2,200 assessments of personality strengths and career activity for ninth graders, and assisting approximately 700 12th grade students with Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act applications; and

WHEREAS, The Ontario Promise Scholars program served 9,000 students in the 20152016 school year and a reduction of federal funding could lead to lost grant funding at the local level; and

WHEREAS, It is in the interest of the country to oppose recommendations from the White House Office of Management and Budget, which are scheduled to be finalized by March 13, 2017, that call for the elimination of funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service, thereby ending the vital and valuable service it helps to facilitate; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California,That the Assembly recognizes AmeriCorps and its significant contribution of people, time, and resources for the good of California by proclaiming the week of March 4, 2017, to March 11, 2017, inclusive, as AmeriCorps Week; and be it further

Resolved,That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.