================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 32 ISSN 1069-7799 May 24, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: HOUSE-SENATE CONFEREES BEGIN WORK ON BILL WITH LSTA ACTION NEEDED: CONTINUE URGENT MESSAGE TO CONGRESS TO COMPLETE ACTION ON THE LIBRARY SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ACT _________________________________________________________________ HOUSE-SENATE CONFEREES BEGIN WORK ON BILL WITH LSTA House-Senate conferees met twice this week on the CAREERS Act, H.R. 1617. This is the large bill with consolidations of workforce development, vocational and adult education and literacy programs. The bill also contains the reauthorization of LSCA as the Library Services and Technology Act, to be administered by an Institute of Museum and Library Services. In two late-afternoon sessions on Tuesday and Thursday, conferees from the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee and the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee met to review the work of their staffs and to take up issues that could not be resolved by staff. The sessions, interrupted by floor votes as legislators rushed to complete other measures before the Memorial Day recess, got conferees through the opening speeches and positioning, but not much further. No votes were taken on any issue. The tentative staff agreement on the library and museum programs is considered noncontroversial, and conferees were not considered likely to spend much time in discussion of library issues. No objections to these provisions were raised. However, conferees do need to ratify this tentative agreement and resolve the few outstanding issues such as the minimum allotment to go to each state. Further meetings of conferees will be necessary, but these will not take place until legislators return from a week of Memorial Day visits and campaigning in home districts. As reports from Library Legislative Day participants flow back to the ALA Washington Office, it is clear that the Library Services and Technology Act and the combination of library and museum programs are considered noncontroversial by most congressional offices, very likely to be supported when votes come up, and supported in a bipartisan manner. ACTION NEEDED: The recess period (until June 11, for the Senate) is a good time to make follow up phone calls, letters, or home district visits. Continue the urgent message to complete action on the Library Services and Technology Act, now in House-Senate conference on H.R. 1617. Time is running out in this short election-year session, but the approaching election also makes legislators especially responsive to constituent requests. Other options to keep library programs going temporarily could be taken up by Congress, and may need to be if all else fails, such as authorizing for a brief period on an appropriations bill. Appropriations are often approved very late, however. Further, if Congress and the White House should keep sparring on funding issues, Congress could extend funding for less than a full year. Any temporary option would mean that the authorization process would have to start from scratch in the next Congress because bills do not carry over between each 2-year Congress. This would leave library programs in limbo for the next funding cycle. None of these options is as solid or desirable as getting the program on the law books for a full 5 years. So, to repeat the message: Make sure that congressional offices keep hearing from library advocates. Urge them to finish work on LSTA, and not let this crucial stimulus to improvement of library services through technological innovation and outreach services lapse. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname]" to . ALAWON archives gopher.ala.org; select Washington Office Newsline. Web page HTTP://www.ala.org/alawashington.html. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================