Wisconsin joins lawsuit over AmeriCorps cuts

Wisconsin is now one of 25 states suing the Trump Administration over the ending of funding for AmeriCorps programs in Wisconsin and across the country.

READ MORE: La Crosse’s Nature Place to lose six people due to AmeriCorps funding cuts

It is a federal agency created more than 30 years ago to work directly in communities to help with educational, environmental, and public safety needs.

Word came down on Friday according to Gov. Tony Evers’ office, that federal grants to each of the 25 AmeriCorps programs in the state are terminated.

Wisconsin joined the lawsuit on Tuesday.

AmeriCorps operates at more than 300 locations around the state including here in the La Crosse area.

Grants were cut to Serve Wisconsin, which oversees the AmeriCorps funding for the state. It was created by former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson.

Across Wisconsin, they provide services and programming including educational support such as tutoring young students, work with community healthcare, provide legal assistance, and tackle conservation projects.

Jeanne Duffy, Executive Director for Serve Wisconsin, said in a statement, “The sudden and unnecessary loss of services will have detrimental impacts for thousands of students finishing the school year, as well as people in recovery from substance addiction, homeless youth, individuals with disabilities, people accessing services at health clinics, and those served by hundreds of nonprofit organizations throughout Wisconsin.  Additionally, thousands of kids and families may be impacted by the loss of planned summer programming.”

She said the cuts aren’t just affecting those who receive a benefit from one of the programs.

“These terminations are also causing dramatic upheaval in the lives of the hundreds of AmeriCorps members that had dedicated a year of their life to service, losing access to their living allowance that may have been their only source of income and facing immediate financial crises around paying for housing and living expenses.” 

“The attempt to dismantle AmeriCorps is part of a pattern from the Trump administration of disrespect toward those who serve others,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. “That approach is not just shameful — it’s misguided. AmeriCorps volunteers and projects help strengthen communities. AmeriCorps should be thanked for its work, not abruptly dismantled.”

Kaul said that since February, when the Trump administration ordered all federal agencies to plan to reduce the number of employees, AmeriCorps has put at least 85 percent of its workforce on administrative leave. They told them their jobs would end on June 24.

One of the programs run out of La Crosse is WisCorps. Crew members work on projects on public lands to build trails, maintain habitat, and carpentry work according to its website.

They have an office on La Crosse Street directly across from City Hall.

Requests for comment from WisCorps to WIZM News weren’t returned.