****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 50 September 15, 1994 In this issue: (179 lines) ACTION NEEDED ON LIBRARY PROGRAM FUNDING PUBLIC INTEREST PROVISIONS IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILL THREATENED - ACTION NEEDED PROPOSAL TO FCC TO CONNECT LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS TO NII - ENDORSEMENTS NEEDED *************************************************************************** ACTION NEEDED ON LIBRARY PROGRAM FUNDING September 20 is the date on which House and Senate conferees will meet to determine final library program funding levels for FY95. If this schedule holds, conferees would resolve differences between the House and Senate- passed versions of H.R. 4606, the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill. Then the compromise version must be passed by both House and Senate and sent to the President for signature. For Department of Education library programs under the Library Services and Construction Act and the Higher Education Act, the Senate passed a total of $147,558, while the House total is $117,496,000--a 20 percent cut from current funding. ACTION NEEDED: This is the final chance to contact House conferees to urge them to agree to the Senate levels, which restore crucial funding for library programs. Immediate calls (202-225-3121 for House operator) are needed to House conferees: 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); Rose DeLauro (D-CT); John Porter (R-IL); Bill Young (R-FL); Helen Bentley (R-MD); Henry Bonilla (R-TX). Your calls will make a difference, and are urgently needed. House champions are needed to help achieve House agreement to Senate figures-- especially important to restore LSCA construction/renovation and technology upgrading funds, and the funding of digitization of library resources and electronic gateways to multitype library resources called for in the Senate bill. *************************************************************************** PUBLIC INTEREST PROVISIONS IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILL THREATENED - ACTION NEEDED Critical provisions relating to public access and public rights-of-way issues in S. 1822, the Communications Act of 1994, are now being threatened by heavy lobbying from industry interests. There is speculation that there will be an effort, should S. 1822 come to the Senate floor before adjournment in early October, to remove Sections 103 and 104 and related provisions from the bill. For libraries and other public entities, there are already shortcomings in the bill so that any further weakening of these public space provisions must be quickly resisted should a vote take place this session. BACKGROUND: On August 11, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a substitute version of S. 1822, the Communications Act of 1994 (See ALAWON, Vol. 3, No. 42). The committee bill combines the preferential rate provisions for libraries and other nonprofits in the original S. 1822 with concepts from S. 2195, the National Public Telecommunications Infrastructure Act introduced by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D- HI). Up to 5 percent of capacity must be reserved for eligible entities (public and nonprofit libraries, educational institutions, certain nonprofits) at incremental cost based rates for delivery of information services to the general public. Advanced services are to be provided at preferential rates for eligible entities such as public and nonprofit libraries, but otherwise, higher education and state and local governments are excluded. The outlook for floor action on S. 1822 in the last weeks of the congressional session is uncertain. On September 1st, ALA sent a letter in conjunction with the Association of Research Libraries, the Computing Research Association, the National Humanities Alliance, and the Instructional Telecommunications Council to Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, opposing any attempts to remove these public access sections from the bill. Among other points, ALA argued that if "eligible public entities" are to be charged incremental cost-based rates under this bill, there should be no limitations on the capacity available to such eligible users. (i.e.: if libraries are being charged incremental rates then there should be no legal or regulatory limitations on the capacity they can use.) ACTION NEEDED: Urge senators to support and retain the public space provisions in Sections 103 and 104 and reject any attempts to weaken or remove them. Since this is a floor battle, any and all senators need to hear from library constituents as soon as possible. *************************************************************************** PROPOSAL TO FCC TO CONNECT LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS TO NII - ENDORSEMENTS NEEDED ALA encourages library and educational organizations, including state and regional library associations, to contact the Federal Communications Commission and endorse reform of the Commission's current price cap regulations. ALA's innovative reform proposal urges the FCC to provide positive incentives for local phone companies to invest in communications technology for education and libraries by applying the "Consumer Productivity Dividend" (CPD) to a program to pay for such investments. BACKGROUND: In July 1994, ALA joined with four national education groups to present the FCC with a plan that could speed up the connection of libraries and schools to the National Information Superstructure (See ALAWON, Vol. 3, No. 36). ALA submitted its proposal together with the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Education Association, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National School Board Association, as part of a "price cap" proceeding to review how best to set the rates charged by local telephone companies for long distance companies to have access to their networks. A complex formula currently requires an annual rate adjustment that includes something called the "Consumer Productivity Dividend" (CPD). Local phone companies are then required to reduce prices each year to long distance carriers by an amount equal to the CPD. The purpose was originally to ensure that ultimately consumers could obtain larger price reductions than would have occurred in the absence of price cap regulation. It is unclear whether any benefit has been realized by consumers. As ALA indicated in its submission to the FCC, "At best, the 'dividend' has disappeared down a regulatory black hole, leaving the vast majority of consumers without any noticeable benefit." ACTION NEEDED: To increase the likelihood of FCC action, ALA encourages state and regional library associations to communicate to the FCC their support for ALA's FCC Filing. The approximately $300 million a year available through the proposal could be allocated to a special account against which the local telephone companies would charge investments made in educational and library infrastructure in their service territories. This would greatly advance the Administration's goal to connect every library and classroom to the NII. Refer to CC Docket 94-1: Price Cap Performance Review for Local Exchange Carriers. Send letters to Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20554. Direct your letters to the FCC Chairman and Commissioners listed below. Chairman Reed E. Hundt Commissioner Rachelle B. Chong Commissioner Susan Ness Commissioner James H. Quello Commissioner Andrew C. Barrett Also send a copy of your letters to FCC Secretary William A Caton at the address given above. Contact the ALA Washington Office if further details are needed. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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***