July 23 Budget Update in Congress

TomWheaton@AOL.COM
Sun, 23 Jul 1995 14:21:06 -0400

It's call-in time again folks. We cannot stop now.

The following message is being posted by ACRA to provide up-to-date
information on the situation in Washington. The national coordinating
council for historic preservation in Wash DC is made up of various
preservation groups who meet informally to coordinate their activities and
views on legislation and other issues. ACRA, the Society for Historical
Archaeology, Preservation Action, the Society for Historic Archaeology, the
National Trust, NCSHPO, and many other organizations participate in this
group. The following message is from Nellie Longsworth from Preservation
Action who is active in the coordinating council. Please note that the
Interior Appropriationis subcommittee is scheduled to have mark up on July
28.

Tom Wheaton
Exec. Dir. - ACRA

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From: Loretta Neumann (CEHP)
Subject: Message from Nellie Longsworth (Preservation Action)

Please distribute this message to all of the ACRA people who are not on my
list that you see on this message, plus the list serves and other people you
usually share these with. Nellie did a great job of summarizing where we are
with the Senate and what needs to be done. If there are people not on the
Internet who should get this, please fax it to them.

IT'S TIME TO LOBBY THE SENATE FOR
FY96 HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAM APPROPRIATIONS !
MARK UP SCHEDULED FOR JULY 28TH

With the House victories behind us, preservationists must now turn our lobby
efforts to the Senate. The effort must get into first gear immediately since
Chairman Mark Hatfield of the Appropriations Committee has announced a mark
up of Interior appropriations on July 28th.

BRIEFLY, PRESERVATIONISTS SUPPORT THE FUNDING LEVELS APPROPRIATED BY THE
HOUSE FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION, EXCEPT FOR THE NATIONAL TRUST.

House mark: Historic Preservation Fund (HPF)
States/local governments $31 million
Tribes 2 million
Historic Black Colleges 1.5 million
*National Trust for Hist. Pres. 3.5 million (We support $5.75)

Advisory Council on Historic Pres. 3.0 million
BACKGROUND:
*The National Trust has presented a plan to the Appropriations Senate
Committee to phase out their federal funds and replace with private funds
over a 5 year period. The proposal calls for a 17% cut from FY95 levels to
$5.75 million for FY96, declining to $0 in 2001. The House mark of $3.5
million with a 2 year phase out will curtail the continuation of many
valuable Trust programs.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has been targeted by the Senate
Budget Committee for elimination in FY97. There is no sound basis for this
decision that we can ascertain, and it is even more perplexing when the House
Resources Committee has scheduled oversight hearings on the whole
preservation program this fall.

The review process carried out by the Council insures that the concerns of
the local community will be addressed when federal agency projects impact
historic areas and buildings. The Council is part of an effective
partnership that spreads responsibility for the national historic
preservation program throughout the National Park Service, States, Local
Governments, Tribes, and the National Trust. The efficiency and cost
effectiveness of the partnership provides an excellent model for many
programs. Elimination of the Council at this time will have a negative impact
on preservation work at all levels of government.

The preservation community welcomes the opportunity to bring our case before
the oversight hearings in the fall. Until that time, we request that the
Senate appropriate funding for historic preservation at levels supported by
the House, except for $5.75 million for the National Trust.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATORS' OFFICES NOW AND ASK FOR THEIR SUPPORT FOR THE
ABOVE FUNDING. If you visited Senate staffers during March or May in
Washington, contact them directly as a follow-up. Since time is short, please
call or fax your request. All Senate offices can be reached by calling
202-224-3121.

If you have questions, please call Preservation Action at 202-659-0915 or fax
us at 202-296-2705. You can obtain the Senate e-mail addresses on the WWW at
ACRA's home page: http://www.mindspring.com/~wheaton/ACRA.html