Advocacy

Peace Corps Budget Battle Brewing

By Jonathan Pearson on Monday, February 14th, 2011

Two announcements over the last 72 hours indicate a wide discrepancy on the direction of Peace Corps funding.

On Monday morning, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2012 budget request to Congress.  The President’s budget includes nearly $440 million for the Peace Corps, which would be a ten percent increase over current funding for the agency.

However, that current funding level is in doubt as Congress considers final action on the Fiscal Year 2011 budget.  Peace Corps is operating at $400 million, under the previous year’s spending levels, as part of a continuing resolution passed late last year.  At the end of last week, the House Appropriations Committee announced proposed reductions in current spending.  These reductions include a $69 million cut in Peace Corps spending, eliminating all of the increase achieved in late 2009 and further reducing spending to Fiscal Year 2008 levels.  Under the House proposal, Peace Corps would continue the current fiscal year with an appropriation of approximately $331 million.

Stay tuned for further updates.

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