On April 21, 2009, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, amending the 1990 act that created Americorps. The Serve America Act provides staged expansion of Americorps from its current 75,000 members to 250,000 by the year 2017. It also increases federally-funded senior and school age service programs. The Serve America Act is being passionately debated, much like the initial creation of Americorps and its predecessors.
Opposition to federally-funded public service is not new.