Waste in government is largely in the eye of the beholder. One person’s essential service may be another’s frivolous use of taxpayer dollars.
The Trump administration has made deep cuts in staffing and funding for dozens of federal agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created by President Trump and administered by billionaire Elon Musk.
The local impact of these cuts emerged this week when DOGE ordered AmeriCorps to cut nearly $400 million from its annual $1 billion budget. AmeriCorps operates three primary programs, including AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), which has a long history of working with nonprofits throughout the Golden Triangle.
Among those notified of termination this week were VISTA workers at the Starkville Area Arts Council, Starkville Strong and the J.L. King Center. They are among an estimated 30,000 VISTA workers nationwide whose service was abruptly terminated. United Way of Lowndes and Noxubee County has not been informed of any cuts to their VISTA programs, but they are fearful they’ll lose VISTA workers, too. Data from the most recent report on placements in 2022 listed 16 VISTA employees in Columbus, five in Starkville and two in West Point.
VISTA’s long association with nonprofits throughout the Golden Triangle has been a godsend for organizations with small staffs and budgets. VISTA workers are not interns tasked with menial duties and make-work. When nonprofits apply for VISTA workers, they are required to provide a job description and specific duties linked to a specific program.
Depending on their assignments, VISTA workers provide services ranging from social media and website management to casework to program direction to operations to grant writing.
The workers, primarily college students or recent graduates, draw a federal salary of $24,000 along with a $7,500 education stipend at the end of their term.
Whatever may be said about AmeriCorps as a federal agency, the VISTA workers who have contributed so much to our community through their nonprofit positions should never be called “waste.”
Attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia have joined a suit against the Trump administration to block the cuts at dozens of agencies. The administration can also rescind these cuts, as they have done in other cases.
Without VISTA workers, many people in the Golden Triangle are likely to lose access to important services as nonprofits struggle to fulfill their missions.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
