MD Democrats call for donors to aid organizations hit by AmeriCorps cuts

Two of Maryland’s leading Democrats joined leaders from Baltimore-based organizations Thursday to call for corporations, foundations and individuals to help fill the gaps suddenly left by the Trump administration’s deep cuts to AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteerism.

Senate President Bill Ferguson said during a news conference in his South Baltimore district that donors, including the utility company BGE and the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, contributed a total of $80,000 to two organizations in the area to temporarily restore funding they’ve lost because of the cuts to AmeriCorps.

“This is the moment to help them survive,” Ferguson, who was once an AmeriCorps member with Teach for America in Baltimore, said of the organizations that have lost physical and financial support because of the cuts.

The press conference included a display of the roughly 20 organizations — including the technology opportunity and access nonprofit Digital Harbor Foundation, which hosted Thursday’s event — that have reportedly experienced the most severe losses because of the AmeriCorps cuts.

The Senate president’s office instructed those looking to support corps members whose positions were eliminated to do so through the Emergency Funding in Support of AmeriCorps Members campaign from the America’s Service Commissions organization.

Jade Burnham, the director for the organization’s Harbor Navigators program, said the eight AmeriCorps members in Baltimore and in Montgomery County with whom she worked were helping immigrants learn digital skills, distributing devices and teaching families to use them, and bringing internet connection to people living in areas without it.

“These programs are not a waste of taxpayer dollars but an investment in our communities with positive returns on investment,” she said.

Ferguson and Attorney General Anthony Brown on Thursday portrayed AmeriCorps as more than a government agency, describing it as a fundamental expression of the country’s values, in public service and civic engagement. They said the Trump administration’s cuts represent an erosion of these values.

In April, the Trump administration abruptly placed 85% of the agency’s workforce on leave and announced plans to terminate roughly $400 million in grant programs.

In Maryland last year, AmeriCorps provided more than $21 million to support 5,000 volunteers, Brown said.

Sixteen Maryland programs were terminated overnight, including Frostburg State University’s ASTAR program, which provides services to food pantries, public schools and Special Olympics Maryland, and the state’s largest AmeriCorps program, at Salisbury University, which was hosting 178 members working to help Eastern Shore communities.

“All of these service members are now out of jobs and the people who depended on them have lost critical support,” Brown said.

Hundreds of AmeriCorps members in Maryland were immediately terminated in April, prompting concerns that some volunteers might soon struggle to cover their food and housing costs. AmeriCorps members receive small stipends and aren’t eligible for state unemployment insurance benefits.

In response to the cuts, Maryland has co-led 24 other states and Washington, D.C., in suing the Trump administration, contending that the administration has violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how agencies develop and issue regulations. The lawsuit also contends that the administration violated the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution, exceeding its lawful authority by moving to dismantle an agency established by Congress.

Brown said Thursday that Department of Justice lawyers have agreed to an expedited briefing schedule. The attorney general expects that the suing states will file the briefs by the end of next week, and that they’ll receive a ruling on their motion for preliminary injunction soon after.