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President Trump and Congress are attempting to address excessive federal government spending, an appropriate and necessary endeavor. However, the president’s proposed budget eliminates some programs that provide vital services; these cuts will actually cost taxpayers money in the end.

Specifically, the president’s 2018 budget would eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service, the agency administering national service programs including AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. Elimination of CNCS would have no real impact on overall federal spending; total funding for CNCS is just 0.029 percent of the current budget — a fraction of a percent.

National service programs help Americans, ranging in age from middle schoolers to the elderly, serve their country in many ways. The rewards are tangible — economists have demonstrated that every dollar invested in national service generates almost four dollars in returns for society in terms of higher earnings, increased output, and other community-wide benefits.

AmeriCorps has enjoyed strong bipartisan support for decades. Earlier this month, Haley Barbour (former governor of Mississippi) urged his Republican colleagues not to gut the national service programs that are “crucial” in responding to natural disasters.

Here in Montana, AmeriCorps-funded Montana Conservation Corps delivers over 400,000 hours of service each year to our communities. The corps helps maintain trails, parks and campgrounds, and to restore historic sites. AmeriCorps members in the Conservation Corps commit to working one or two years in exchange for modest help with living expenses, health insurance, and tuition.

You can frequently see their crews in the Flathead. Summer work crews typically consist of six young participants assigned to two leaders (usually AmeriCorps volunteers). Crews and their leaders work on public (national, state, city, county) lands. The youth participants, from diverse backgrounds, learn the value of hard work and service.

Please join me in urging Sens. Daines and Tester to reject the elimination of the Corporation for National and Community Service and support AmeriCorps.

—Carol Bibler

Kalispell