Rep. Marlin Stutzman’s proposal to cut federal spending by eliminating a federal agency would instead endanger cost-effective programs that encourage citizens to be involved in their communities and give non-profit charities abundant labor for little investment.

Last week, Stutzman introduced his Volunteer Freedom Act. His news release said the bill “stops Washington from cutting checks to volunteers.”

Stutzman’s bill eliminates the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency Congress created in 1993 that manages several community service programs, including AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps.

“The Volunteer Freedom Act will save taxpayers over $10 billion,” Stutzman said. “Every American ought to volunteer and millions do. … Volunteering, by definition, doesn’t come with a paycheck. Hoosiers serve their neighbors because we value people, not because we’re seeking pay.”

His objection is that some agency programs provide minimal stipends or scholarships to volunteers who commit to serving their community.

For example, the AmeriCorps program at IPFW gives 29 students $1,175 each in scholarship money for every 300 hours of community service the students contribute. That is about $3.92 per hour. The program helps the students afford a college education while providing local charities with desperately needed help from motivated workers. In other words, students work for their scholarships.

Two SeniorCorps programs – including a foster grandparent program and a program providing companionship to people who are elderly or have disabilities – pay their volunteers $2.65 an hour.

Abolishing the agency would also endanger many volunteer programs that don’t pay their volunteers.

“Our volunteers get zero pay,” said Jean Joley, executive director of the Volunteer Center at RSVP, a program that links seniors with local volunteer opportunities. “We are not totally dependent on CNCS. It’s less than 50 percent. But it would impact us greatly.”

RSVP matched more than 1,100 volunteers with opportunities to help the community in 2011, and it costs RSVP 58 cents per volunteer hour. Those administrative costs include providing insurance for the volunteers and the non-profit agencies receiving the help, as well as training.

When Super Shot needed volunteers to enter student immunization records into a state database, RSVP not only had to make sure volunteers had the necessary computer expertise, but the agency also had to complete a criminal background check and have each volunteer sign a confidentiality agreement. If RSVP is not able to cover those costs, many of its volunteers would not be able to afford to give their time to their community.

Sixty RSVP volunteers are offering free tax preparation for low-income residents. Joley said the tax program brought back more than $3.2 million to the community last year.

Through the Share the Warmth program, RSVP volunteers were able to ensure that 3,400 children received warm coats this winter.

Joley said eliminating the agency would hurt a lot of valuable local organizations, including the American Red Cross and the Boys and Girls Club. Those two agencies benefit from the AmeriCorps student volunteers.

“It’s a tough time for agencies, and volunteers are stepping up,” Joley said. “I think he (Stutzman) needs to look at the overall economy and the need for volunteers to step in and help agencies fulfill their missions. This gives people an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people. It’s citizen involvement.”

The federal corporation’s annual budget is about $1 billion, and with that money the agency enables more than 1.5 million people perform community service each year.

The federal government already cut funding to the agency last year – which meant that local volunteer organizations, such as Joley’s, also received less funding.

Stutzman described the agency’s work as “unnecessary and expensive.” But the thousands of Fort Wayne residents who depend on services from Community Harvest Food Bank, Crime Victim Care or Charis House know the work these organizations do is vital. And enabling volunteers to help local charities with the growing workload is money well spent.