The Trump administration has agreed to release $184 million for AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteerism, after a coalition of 22 attorneys general and two governors sued in April.

The coalition, which included Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, challenged the administration’s plans to eliminate 90% of AmeriCorps’ workforce, cancel contracts and close $400 million worth of programs the agency supports, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office said in a statement.

“At the last minute, when required to provide legal justification as to why it withheld funds, the administration instead did what it should have done from the beginning and released the funding,” said Frey.

“AmeriCorps represents some of the best of American values: service, community, and opportunity,” said Frey, “and Maine would have been deprived of this important, congressionally-funded AmeriCorps programming had I not joined suit to enforce the law.”

AmeriCorps, a federal agency signed into law in 1993 by former President Bill Clinton, places roughly 200,000 members across the United States at 35,000 service locations, according to current agency data. There are more than 200 AmeriCorps volunteers in Maine.



Trump administration to release $184M for AmeriCorps under pressure by Democratic coalition • Maine Morning Star