****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 3, Number 25 May 31, 1994 In this issue: (183 lines) ALA TESTIFIES AT SENATE HEARING ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION POSTAL RATES - NONPROFIT 3RD CLASS BULK ELIGIBILITY RULES ISSUED POSTAL RATE CASE - LIBRARY RATE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION *************************************************************************** ALA TESTIFIES AT SENATE HEARING ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION Elaine Albright, Dean of Cultural Affairs and Libraries at the University of Maine, and chair of the ALA Committee on Legislation's Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Telecommunications, testified on behalf of ALA at the final hearing on S. 1822, the Communications Act of 1994. Led by Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), Chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and sponsor of S. 1822, the hearing focused on provisions in the bill which would provide incentives for deployment of the infrastructure to libraries and educational institutions. Albright said ALA supports the provisions of S. 1822 that call for preferential rates for educational institutions, libraries, and hospitals. She said: If Congress provides incentives to the marketplace as an engine of investment and economic growth, it should balance this by extracting support of public interest goals. The new NII requires "public spaces" and societal values, and should assist educational and research institutions, libraries, nonprofits, and governmental organizations to carry out their public and societal responsibilities. She made specific recommendations to ensure that preferential rates are available for postsecondary education as well as K-12, that the full range of library service to the public is eligible, and that "classroom" is interpreted to include school library media centers. The ALA testimony suggested options for implementation of preferential rates, and recommended a regular review of the impact of the legislation on libraries, educational institutions, and other public and nonprofit entities. She made recommendations in support of open platform approaches, and against redlining in provision of advanced networks. She urged exploration of a transitional strategy of reserving capacity for public networking purposes through a public right-of-way concept, and for creating a fund to support use of reserved or preferential rate capacity by eligible public and nonprofit entities. The ALA testimony also gave examples of the leading role of libraries in the NII and of how the combination of libraries and technology changes lives; outlined the significant investments the NII requires of libraries; and listed library association principles for the development of the NII. The lead witness, Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, presented a strong statement that student access and use of the NII must not be a secondary consideration to commercial purposes. He reaffirmed the Administration's commitment to the goal of connecting every classroom, library and hospital to the NII, and added his belief that free connections may not be enough. Schools need free, or as inexpensive as possible, use of telecommunications lines. If all educational institutions cannot be connected at once, he recommended that schools, libraries, and literacy centers be at the top of the list. Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Nebr.) also testified. He said: Universal service for schools and public libraries should include, at a minimum, the ability to obtain access to multi-media educational materials, research information, statistics, information on government services, and reports developed by federal, state and local governments and informational services which can be carried over the Internet and similar networks. Several technology demonstrations and testimony from the National Education Association and the U.S. Distance Learning Association completed the hearing. *************************************************************************** POSTAL RATES - NONPROFIT 3RD CLASS BULK ELIGIBILITY RULES ISSUED The U.S. Postal Service published a final rule concerning eligibility restrictions relating to advertising in publications and to products mailed at nonprofit third-class bulk rates. The new rules, published in the May 5 _Federal Register_, pp. 23158-64, and the May 12 _Postal Bulletin_, take effect September 4, 1994. In general, products or services advertised in such publications must be "substantially related" to performing one or more of the mailing organization's purposes as stated in the organization's application to mail at the nonprofit rate. The "substantially relatedness" of an item will be determined by standards established by the Internal Revenue Service and the courts. Products must be low cost items as defined by the IRS Code, the value of which will be $6.39 for 1994, to be adjusted each calendar year for the cost of living. Bulk mail permit holders should look closely at the specifics of the new rule. The rule is more lenient than the draft proposed by USPS last December, but still stricter than key legislators intended in enacting eligibility changes in the FY 1994 appropriations act (P.L. 103-123). The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, a coalition to which ALA belongs, notes that under the tax laws, it is difficult to establish that a paid third-party advertisement satisfies the "substantially related" test. The ALA Washington Office, in cooperation with the Alliance, would be interested in hearing reaction to, or any problems with, the new rules. *************************************************************************** POSTAL RATE CASE - LIBRARY RATE Some 30 mailing organizations have signed on to a request from the U.S. Postal Service to settle the proposed omnibus rate case. However, ALA instead retained rights to litigate the case, and filed a legal request for certain information from USPS regarding the proposed 73.7 percent increase in the fourth-class library rate. The Postal Rate Commission has indicated it will not accept a negotiated settlement as proposed. *************************************************************************** PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION In 1993, two bills, with differing approaches to the reauthorization of the Paperwork Reduction Act, were introduced: S. 560 by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and a group of colleagues, and S. 681 by Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee, and a group of colleagues. The two bills are so different that a consensus has not emerged. However, in mid- May 1994 a draft staff bill was circulated for comment. While most of the provisions of the bill focus on the Office of Management and Budget's regulatory review and paperwork clearance responsibilities, there are also sections concerning OMB's dissemination responsibilities. The ALA Washington Office and other ALA members are still analyzing the draft bill, but it appears that the dissemination section has been pared down and no longer specifically mentions depository libraries, or the private sector, as channels for the distribution of government information. Additionally, the list of restrictive factors, or "checklist," is not in the draft bill. The library community had objected to this list of factors on the grounds that it would have a chilling effect on the ability of agencies to disseminate government information. On May 19, Glenn chaired a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, "Information Management, Paperwork Reduction and Regulatory Review," on OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Witnesses included Gene Dodaro, General Accounting Office; Sally Katzen, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; C. Boyden Gray, Citizens for a Sound Economy; Robert Coakley, Council on Regulatory and Information Management; Lorraine Lavet, United States Chamber of Commerce; David Vladeck, Public Citizen Litigation Group; and Gary Bass, OMB Watch. At the hearing, Sen. William Roth (R-Del.) said that the Committee hopes to mark up a compromise bill in late May. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. Editor: Lee G. Enyart (lge@alawash.org). ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). 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