****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 28 June 16, 1994 In this issue: (167 lines) HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL MARKUP A TO Z BILL DISPLAYS HOUSE APPETITE FOR FURTHER CUTS NHPRC REAUTHORIZATION SIGNED INTO LAW ESEA REAUTHORIZATION BILL PASSES FULL COMMITTEE *************************************************************************** HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL MARKUP The FY 1995 Appropriations bill for Labor, Health and Human Services and Education was marked up on June 14 in the House subcommittee, with full committee markup expected June 21. The bill could reach the floor as early as June 23. The Senate subcommittee is planning a markup July 15. In an extremely tight budget year, major education legislation, such as Goals 2000, ESEA, School-to-Work and Head Start, requires new or increased funds. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, faced many demands with few resources. When the Congress passed the FY 1995 Budget Resolution, it included half of the $26 billion dollar cut proposed by Senators Exon (D-Nebr.) and Grassley (R- Iowa), which reduced discretionary spending by $13 billion. Thus, when the 602(b) allocations were made to the thirteen appropriations subcommittees, the Labor, HHS, Education Subcommittee received $2.4 billion below the President's request. Most library programs funded were cut slightly from FY 1994 levels. LSCA II public library construction and technology enhancement was not funded. Of currently funded Higher Education Act library programs, only the HEA II- B library education and training component was continued. Funded this year for the first time was the HEA II-D historically black colleges and universities library and information science program at $1.5 million. FY 1995 Library Program Appropriations (amounts in thousands) Program FY 1994 FY 1995 Admin. FY 1995 House Approp. Request Subcommittee Library Services & Construction Act $ 128,866 $ 102,976 $ 110,080 I, public library serv. 83,227 83,227 82,482 II, public library constr. 17,792 0 0 III, interlib. cooperation 19,749 19,749 19,572 IV, Indian lib. service 2 % of LSCA I, II, and III V, foreign lang. materials 0 0 0 VI, library literacy progs. 8,098 0 8,026 Higher Education Act $ 17,443 $ 0 $ 6,416 II-A, college lib. tech. & cooperation 3,873 0 0 II-B, library education 4,960 0 4,916 II-B, library res. & dev. 2,802 0 0 II-C, research library resources 5,808 0 0 II-D, HBCU library & info. science 0 0 1,500 U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science $ 904 $ 901 $ 901 National Library of Medicine (incl. MLAA) $ 118,019 $ 138,521 $ 126,220 The House subcommittee included funding for Goals 2000 at about $388 million, but almost $320 million less than the Administration requested. Head Start funding was set at $3.5 billion, a $210 million increase, but almost $492 million less than the Administration request. Some budget line items reflected the House-passed ESEA reauthorization and included line items for Eisenhower and Chapter 2 programs combined at $667 million, with final allocations to be determined after passage of the legislation. The educational technology component proposed under ESEA reauthorization was included at $20 million. ACTION NEEDED: Library supporters should continue to make their case to House members and increase efforts to contact Senate appropriations committee members to restore LSCA II and the Higher Education Act library programs. *************************************************************************** A TO Z BILL DISPLAYS HOUSE APPETITE FOR FURTHER CUTS Two legislative proposals are creating consternation on the part of education groups and other organizations with federal appropriations at stake. One is H.R. 3266, the so-called "A to Z" plan, and the other is a proposal sponsored by Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-Texas) called the "A Plus" plan. The A to Z proposal currently has more than 175 of the 218 signatures needed to discharge the bill to the floor. The A to Z bill would set aside 56 hours for votes on amendments to cut discretionary and entitlement spending--any line item could be brought up by any Representative. The Stenholm group appears close to an agreement with those supporting H.R. 3266, and if that occurs, chances are likely the needed number of signatures will be achieved. On June 9, the editorial page of _The Washington Post_ called the bill "a plan to turn the House into a circus tent in which members can do budget tricks for the voters in anticipation of the fall elections, . . ." and said chances are likely the bill will come to the floor. The _Post_ noted the success of the budget caps and cautioned that Medicare and Medicaid are the health care programs that need to be contained, since savings in that area would benefit the budget over time. *************************************************************************** NHPRC REAUTHORIZATION SIGNED INTO LAW On May 31, the President signed H.R. 2139 (now P.L. 103-262), the bill reauthorizing the National Historical Publications and Records Commission for the next three years. Authorization levels are set at up to $7 million for FY 1995, $8 million for FY 1996 and $10 million for FY 1997. The National Historical Publications and Records Commission makes grants nationwide for the preservation and publication of records and other source materials that document American history. *************************************************************************** ESEA REAUTHORIZATION BILL PASSES FULL COMMITTEE The Senate Education and Labor Committee, on June 15, reported out S. 1513, ESEA reauthorization. Copies of the bill will not be available until next week, and there is no indication at this time when the bill will go to the Senate floor. Sen. Moseley-Braun's (D-Ill.) school facilities bill was included in the committee bill with authorization level set at $400 million. The school library resources setaside is included in the bill, with no change from earlier subcommittee action. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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). Back issues and other documents are available from the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***