Legislature penny wise, pound foolish on AmeriCorps Nevada funding

State officials are busy searching under their couch cushions these days to come up with enough spare change to keep the AmeriCorps Nevada program alive.

It's more pathetic than political, and it's not yet a scandal, unless you consider relying on federal handouts to fund needed social programs scandalous. But if you're looking for an illustration of just how tough times are in the Silver State, here's your example.

First, a little background. The AmeriCorps program was created in 1993 when President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act in an effort to increase volunteerism in areas of need. In case you're hoping to make it a political issue, AmeriCorps' budget grew under President George W. Bush. President Barack Obama has announced his intention to expand it dramatically.

Nonprofits were created to administer the program. In this state, Nevada Volunteers is in charge of the AmeriCorps' mission. In exchange for sufficient state dollars to operate and chart the progress of the program, the federal government kicked in handsomely.

In Nevada, a $365,000 investment generates $7.5 million in federal dollars. It is used to assist needy citizens everywhere from homeless shelters to English language tutoring centers. The funding also helps to enlist the services of scores of volunteers and interns.

The money flows into such nonprofits as United Way and the U.S. Veterans homeless program. This year, Nevada Volunteers' CEO Shawn Lecker-Pomaville says United Way is in line to receive $151,000 to underwrite the services of 24 AmeriCorps volunteers in Clark and Nye counties. And U.S. Veterans will get $210,000 to pay for 17 AmeriCorps volunteers, who will assist with the group's ongoing homeless mission. Those grants should begin in September.

But there's a slight problem.

Remember that paltry $365,000 in state seed money needed to grow the $7.5 million in federal dollars?

It was not appropriated during the mad rush to end the 2009 Legislature.

Considering Gov. Jim Gibbons' hard-core conservative stance on the state budget, and the fact he's in the middle of an acrimonious divorce with his wife, Dawn Gibbons, who just happens to be the honorary chairwoman of Nevada Volunteers, you might think the decision to neglect the Nevada AmeriCorps program was born out of pettiness or retribution. Not so, it turns out.

The Legislature has a long tradition of waiting until the waning hours of the session before floating and funding these sorts of things. Even the worthiest programs that enjoy federal funding with a modicum of state participation aren't funded until the last minute.

In sessions past, I'm told, AmeriCorps advocate and Assemblyman Morse Arberry has filed a late funding request on behalf of the Nevada Volunteers program and ushered it through to keep those federal dollars flowing.

This year, Arberry submitted the bill and watched it pass out of the Assembly, but in the rush to end the session the state Senate Finance Committee didn't follow suit. It didn't beat the clock.

Ending up on the sidelines at sine die, its failure threatens to cost the state millions in lost federal program dollars. As of a July 1 deadline, only $5,250 in private donations had been made to pay the $32,000 it will cost to run the program through the end of the year. As of Jan. 1, another $182,500 will need to be found to fund the program, which employs 200 people and figures to expand dramatically if the Obama administration makes good on its promise. (To donate, contact the nevadavolunteers.org Web site.)

"The timing is really critical," Lecker-Pomaville says. "It couldn't be worse timing to have this threat to AmeriCorps when on the national level we're going to expand to 250,000 in the next five years. If we lose the program, not only would we lose out on the growth, but we'd lose what we currently have. ... It's going to be far more expensive to lose the program than the $182,500."

The governor's spokesman Daniel Burns says his boss is aware of the problem and is working on it, but, "That's how tough this budget is. We've got to scratch to find $35,000."

Dropping the ball once might have been understandable.

Neglecting to fund a program that returns millions to a state wracked with need would be unforgivable.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.