Appropriations Update. Since the constitutionality of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings is in question, there is general uncertainty about the status of appropriations for federal programs. Nevertheless, the impact of deficit reduction measures is already being felt.
The Library of Congress. The LC has announced that beginning March 9 it will eliminate Sunday hours and weekday evening hours, with the exception of Wednesday evening. The Library is currently open weekdays from 8:30 am to 9:30 pm. The combination of a large cut in the FY’86 budget and the anticipation of additional cuts from Gramm-Rudman-Hollings has meant that 300 Library employees have already received notices that their jobs will be terminated in March. A large portion of the reduction is to come from research services.
State Historic Preservation Program. As a part of the President’s announcement of his FY’87 budget recommendations, he announced the rescission of 79 percent of the $21 million appropriated in the 1986 budget for the state historic preservation program. Congress now has 45 legislative days to approve the rescinded funds. Although the money to the states is frequently called “grants,” federal programs such as the National Register of Historic Places and the tax incentive program for the rehabilitation of historic buildings depend on the staff assistance of State Preservation Offices. Compliance with federal historic preservation regulations will be severely hampered by the elimination of federal funds. Half of the State Historic Preservation Office’s budgets come from state funds, thus many states have indicated that they will only have staff to undertake specific state projects and will not be able to provide the assistance needed for the federal programs unless the federal appropriation is forthcoming.
National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The President’s FY’87 budget has once again recommended zero funding for the grants program of the NHPRC. A representative of the NCC will be testifying at the spring appropriations hearings to present NHPRC’s outstanding record for using federal funds to stimulate private contributions for records preservation and for historical documentary editing projects. The FY’86 appropriation for this model fundsharing program was $4 million. Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee with responsibility for NHPRC are:
House Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government: Edward Roybal (D-CA) Chair, Addabbo (D-NY), Akaka (D-HI), Hoyer (D-MD), Coleman (D-TX), Yates (D-IL), Skeen (R-NM), Lowery (R-CA), and Wolf (R-VA). Address: US House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.
Senate Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government: James Abdnor (R-SD) Chair, Laxalt (R-NV), Mattingly (R-GA), DeConcini (D-AZ), Proxmire (D-Wl). Address: US Senate, Washington, DC 20510.
National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Archives. For FY’87 the President has requested for NEH $126 million which is approximately a 10 per cent cut. The proposed appropriation for the National .Archives is approximately level funding. However, it should be noted that as a newly established independent agency, the National Archives has much “catch-up” to do to make up for the years in which it was literally starved while under the General Services Administration.
Congressional Recess Scheduled. From March 26 to April 6 the House of Representatives will be recessed. The Senate dates will be March 27 to April 8. While your Senators and Representatives are at home you may want to telephone them or make an appoint ment to discuss some of the pending legislative issues.
Women’s History Week. On February 6, the House of Representatives passed a resolution commemorating Women’s History. A special thank-you is in order for Representative Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who almost single-handedly secured the necessary two hundred and twenty cosponsors—a majority of the House—needed to bring the resolution to a committee vote so that it could be recommended to the full House for a floor vote. The Senate, which requires that only a majority of the members of the pertinent committee be cosponsors, is expected to vote on the resolution shortly. The resolution resolves “that the week beginning March 2, 1986, is designated as ‘Women’s History Week,’ and the President is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such a week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”
NCC Testimony Presented at House Public Lands Hearing. On February 7 the Director of NCC testified at a hearing on historic preservation before the House Subcommittee on Public Lands of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The testimony addressed four major concerns: that some of the key land management agencies do not follow the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation, which describes the process for effective management of cultural resources; that many federal agencies are handicapped in their preservation of cultural resources by lack of adequate historical documentation; that the Administration’s proposed rescission of 79 percent of funds for FY’86 for the State Historic Preservation Fund (see section above on appropriations) will significantly cripple the national historic preservation pro gram; and that the Administration’s recommendation for a one-third cut in the staff of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will handicap the ability of the Council to protect the nation’s cultural heritage. Additional information on these issues and copies of the full testimony may be obtained from the NCC office.
NCC April Meeting. Representatives of the thirty-six member organizations of the NCC will be meeting in New York in April in conjunction with the Organization of American Historians’ Annual Meeting. On Saturday morning, April 12, the NCC will hold its semi-annual breakfast meeting. In addition to the usual consideration of current advocacy issues, this meeting will offer an opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the NCC. Also on April 12, the NCC will be jointly sponsoring with the National Council on Public History a workshop, “Strategies for Influencing Federal Cultural Resource Management Policy.” The workshop will be held at 3 pm in the Cornell Room of the New York Penta Hotel and will consider: proposed changes in the reauthorization legislation for the National Historic Preservation Act, a draft of a “briefing sheet” for use in seeking Congressional support for historic preservation, a progress report on the Office of Technology Assessment’s historic preservation project, and current efforts to encourage the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to update their manuals used for determining the specifications for the historical component of cultural resource management research designs and projects.
