****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 41 August 12, 1994 In this issue: (305 lines) SENATE PASSES LIBRARY FUNDING - ACTION NEEDED PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION REVISED OMB CIRCULAR A-130 *************************************************************************** SENATE PASSES LIBRARY FUNDING - ACTION NEEDED The Senate passed its version of H.R. 4606, the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill for FY95, on August 10 by a vote of 87-13. The Senate total for Department of Education library programs is $147,558,000--$1.2 million higher than FY94 funding, and considerably above the House-passed $117,486,000 and the Administration's request of $102,976,000. In addition, the Senate included $50 million for the new title III educational technology program in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; the House figure is $20 million. The Senate-passed version of H.R. 6, the ESEA reauthorization bill, provides that 10 to 20 percent of educational technology funding would be set aside for school library resources. FY 1995 Library Program Appropriations (amounts in thousands) Program FY94 FY95 Admin. FY95 House FY95 Senate Appropriation Request Passed Passed Library Services & Construction Act $ 128,866 $ 102,976 $ 111,080 $ 134,372 I pub. lib. services 83,227 83,227 83,482 83,227 II library construction 17,792 0 0 17,792 III, interlib. cooperation 19,749 19,749 19,572 25,327 IV, Indian lib. service 2 % of LSCA I, II, and III V, foreign lang. materials 0 0 0 0 VI, library literacy progs. 8,098 0 8,026 8,026 Higher Education Act $ 17,443 $ 0 $ 6,416 $ 13,186 II-A, college lib. tech. & cooperation 3,873 0 0 0 II-B, library education 4,960 0 4,916 4,916 II-B, library research & demonstrations 2,802 0 0 8,270 II-C, research library resources 5,808 0 0 0 II-D, HBCU library & info. science 0 0 1,500 0 TOTAL $ 146,309 $ 102,976 $ 117,496 $ 147,558 Elementary & Secondary Education Act III, educational technology NA $ 50,000 $ 20,000 $ 50,000 The House passed H.R. 4606 on June 29, and in two cases the House amount is higher. The House included $1.5 million in first-time funding for the Higher Education Act title II-D, the historically black colleges and universities library and information science program. An amendment offered by Rep. Bill Baker (R-CA) added $1 million to the Library Services and Construction Act title I, bringing the total for that program a little above the FY94 level. For several programs, the Senate level is substantially higher. The Senate restored current level funding for LSCA II, public library construction and technology enhancement. The Senate added $5,578,000 to LSCA title III, interlibrary cooperation, for states to establish electronic library gateways for access to public, academic, and research library collections. The HEA II-B, library research and demonstrations program, was increased by $5,468,000, of which $3,994,000 is for demonstration projects involving the digitization of research library collections and the development of related organizational tools for access to these digital resources. Both House and Senate were under pressure to zero out programs targeted for elimination by the Administration in its "reinventing government" report. However, the Senate managed to keep the total for libraries intact by "reinventing" through the approprations process the two programs it agreed with the House to eliminate--the HEA II-A college library technology program and the II-C research library program. These funds were moved to the LSCA III and HEA II-B programs for new but related purposes. The next step will be a House-Senate conference to work out the differences between the two versions of H.R. 4606. Conferees are members of the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittees, and are expected to begin meeting within the next few days. ACTION NEEDED: All health, social services, labor and training, and education programs will be competing for the limited funding available within H.R. 4606 during the conference process. Conferees are only likely to agree to the higher level for each library program if they hear a groundswell of support from library constituents regarding each program where House and Senate levels differ. It is urgent that conferees hear from library supporters immediately. Please alert legislative networks to this urgent need for action. Millions of dollars are at stake in library funding that affects public, school, academic and research, and state libraries. Messages from constituents can make a difference. The message: Urge House-Senate conferees on H.R. 4606 to agree to the higher of the Senate or House-passed levels for each library and educational technology program. Give examples of what one or more of these programs has done or could do in the legislator's state or district. If your Senator or Representative is not likely to be a conferee, ask your own legislator to convey your message to the Senate or House Labor-HHS- Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman--Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) or Rep. Neal Smith (D-IA). (Attention, Iowa library supporters; Iowa is a key state!) The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121 for any Senate office; 202-225-3121 for any House office. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education: Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair; Robert Byrd (D-WV); Ernest Hollings (D-SC); Daniel Inouye (D-HI); Dale Bumpers (D-AR); Harry Reid (D-NV); Herb Kohl (D- WI); Patty Murray (D-WA); Arlen Specter (R-PA); Mark Hatfield (R-OR); Ted Stevens (R-AK); Thad Cochran (R-MS); Slade Gorton (R-WA); Connie Mack (R- FL); Christopher Bond (R-MO) House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education: Neal Smith (D-IA), Chair; David Obey (D-WI); Louis Stokes (D-OH); Steny Hoyer (D-MD); Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Nita Lowey (D-NY); Jose Serrano (D-NY); Rosa DeLauro (D-CT); John Porter (R-IL); Bill Young (R-FL); Helen Bentley (R-MD); Henry Bonilla (R-TX). *************************************************************************** PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT REAUTHORIZATION On August 2, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee reported a compromise version of S. 560, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1994, after what Committee Chairman called "long and difficult negotiations." The bill would reauthorize the PRA for five years and provide annual spending of $8 million for the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The bill covers a wide range of complex subjects, including the government's collection, management and dissemination of information, and its use of information technology and computer security. While most of the bill focuses on OMB's regulatory review and paperwork clearance responsibilities, there are also sections concerning dissemination of government information. The ALA Washington Office and other ALA members are analyzing the new version of S. 560, but it appears the dissemination section is not likely to be as controversial to the library community as it has been in the past. The list of restrictive factors, or "checklist," is not in this version of the 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. Additionally, the bill no longer specifically mentions depository libraries, or the private sector, as channels for the distribution of government information. In the past, ALA also has been concerned about the power of the Office of Management and Budget over government information. In an improvement over other proposed PRA reauthorization legislation, the new version of S. 560 has shifted the authority of the OMB Director from implementing to overseeing the implementation of federal information policies principles, standards and guidelines. In early June, then ALA President, Hardy Franklin, wrote letters and attached the 1991 ALA resolution on PRA reauthorization to Sen. John Glenn (D-OH) and Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA), principal sponsors of competing versions of the PRA reauthorization bills. At that time, these bills were pending before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Franklin offered recommendations for improving Glenn's version of the PRA, and said that ALA was pleased to see that the "checklist" had been omitted from Glenn's draft bill. Concerning OMB's authority Franklin said: Given OMB's track record in implementing the Paperwork Reduction Act, we think public access to federal information programs is adversely affected when responsibility for information dissemination is centralized in the same agency that encompasses oversight of information collection and regulatory review, and also develops and scrutinizes agency budgets....ALA appreciates OMB's recent openness and willingness to meet and exchange views with librarians and other members of the public-interest community, but this does not alter our concern about vesting too much power in one agency. To Nunn, Franklin wrote that ALA would find the version of S. 560 introduced in March 1993 unacceptable without changes that assure the public in general--and small businesses in particular--equitable, timely and ready access to government information. The dissemination section of the reported version of S. 560 adopted by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on August 2 is closer to Glenn's earlier PRA bill, while the collection and regulatory sections of the new bill are closer to Nunn's approach. When they reported out their compromise S. 560, members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee said they hoped to get their bill to the Senate floor soon. Nunn indicated "serious opposition" in the House to PRA authorization, so the bill's fate in this session of Congress is unknown. One of the most controversial provisions of the new bill would overturn a 1990 Supreme Court decision, _Dole v. United Steelworkers of America_. The Court said the PRA allowed OMB to review requests for data intended for government use but not for regulations intended to require businesses to generate information for a third party, such as the public or their employees. The reported version of S. 560 would make such third-party disclosures subject of OMB's clearance. A number of unions and consumer groups are opposed to overturning this Supreme Court decision through legislation. *************************************************************************** REVISED OMB CIRCULAR A-130 The Office of Management and Budget published a revision of OMB Circular A- 130, Management of Federal Information Resources, in the July 25 _Federal Register_, pp. 37906-28. The revisions in the circular address federal agencies' internal management practices for information systems and information technology. The sections concerning how the federal government manages its information holdings, particularly information exchange with the public, have been slightly revised since the major revision of the circular issued on July 2, 1993 (58 _Federal Register_ p. 36068). The language in sections 8.a.(6)(g) and (h) pertaining to agency compliance with the depository library program still states: Agencies shall maintain and implement a management system for all information dissemination products which shall, at a minimum: (g) Ensure that government publications are made available to depository libraries through the facilities of the Government Printing Office, as required by law (44 U.S. C. Part 19); (h) Provide electronic information dissemination products to the Government Printing Office for distribution to depository libraries.... "Information dissemination product" is defined as "any book, paper, map, machine-readable material, audiovisual production, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristic, disseminated by an agency to the public." Having defined "information dissemination product" broadly in terms that would include many publications, OMB provided loopholes in an appendix to the Circular for agency compliance with their statutory responsibilities to the Depository Library Program. Despite guidance in Appendix IV that "[w]with adequate advance planning, agencies should be able to provide electronic information dissemination products to the depository libraries at nominal cost," OMB goes on to say "[i]n a particular case, substantial cost may be a legitimate reason for not providing electronic information dissemination products to the depository library program." Such budgetary limitations on an agency's decision about whether to make a government publication available to depository libraries are not imposed under the law governing the Depository Library Program. The latest revision of OMB Circular A-130 is available electronically at no charge from FEDWORLD, a service of the National Technical Information Service. To access the FEDWORLD Bulletin Board System using a computer and a modem, dial 703-321-8020. WordPerfect and ascii files are located in the W-House Library. The revised circular is marked "REVISED" and dated 7/22/94. Using the Internet, these files can also be found as follows: telnet://fedworld.gov/w-house ftp://ftp.fedworld.gov/w-house Questions may be directed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Washington, DC 20503; 202-395-3785. For copies of the original OMB Circular A-130 (50 _Federal Register_ p. 52730) and Transmittal 1 (58 _Federal Register_ p. 36070), contact the Executive Office of the President, Publications Services, 202- 395-7732 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. EST. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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. 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