FYI: Local AmeriCorps grantees this week joined a frantic national campaign to prevent millions of dollars in funding cuts for the program. The program’s administrative agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service, announced last week that it would dramatically slash the number of volunteer positions it funds this year. Ultimately, the number of slots funded could drop from the current 50,000 a year to between 7,000 and 13,000, sources knowledgeable about the debate say. Advocates told Newsday that could mean the number of volunteers working for New York City nonprofits may drop from 1,700 to 100. At a national conference earlier this month, the Corporation broke the bad news to the state commissions that administer a number of the grant programs, igniting a state-by-state struggle to put the money back. A bipartisan group of senators has already taken up the cause, pointing to mismanagement at the Corporation as the root of the problem and seeking $200 million in emergency funding. The White House has thus far balked at the idea. The funding cuts are based on a Government Accounting Office audit that warned the trust fund that pay outs of education scholarships to AmeriCorps volunteers are at risk of running dry due to sloppy budget projections. [6/20/03]