“The Partnership for the Civilian Climate Corps applauds President Biden and the Administration’s ongoing commitment to addressing the climate, clean energy, and disaster resiliency needs of our communities.

In his State of the Union address and in his budget released on Monday, President Biden laid out a bold vision for growing the American Climate Corps, building on our strong national service and workforce development organizations already engaged in resiliency efforts across the country.

 We are excited by the President's vision of thousands of new climate corps positions that will help Americans get on pathways to good paying jobs while addressing pressing climate, infrastructure, and environmental justice challenges in their own communities. However, we must ensure that the foundation of these opportunities, which builds on existing national service efforts, is protected, prioritized, and resourced sufficiently. This includes providing higher funding levels for AmeriCorps to maintain and grow existing national service positions and local programs while engaging multiple federal agencies in bolstering their support of the American Climate Corps through funding and workforce development opportunities.

We are excited to see the Administration’s prioritization of the American Climate Corps, alongside a budget that increases the AmeriCorps living allowance to make these positions more accessible and equitable. We remain concerned that the budget decreases the number of AmeriCorps members and we encourage Congress to take steps to expand the American Climate Corps as envisioned and to work to ensure that appropriations - in FY2024, FY2025, and beyond - provide appropriate funding across the entire national service sector.”