================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 71 ISSN 1069-7799 October 2, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (105 lines) UPDATE ON THE FY97 OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS MEASURE _________________________________________________________________ UPDATE ON THE FY97 OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS MEASURE We'll be providing a series of reports on final fiscal year 1997 funding levels for various federal programs of interest to librarians or under which libraries may receive assistance. On September 30 Congress gave final approval to and the President signed a massive funding measure combining several appropriations bills plus other items including the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). The bill is H.R. 4278, however, the legislative history of this bill is in the conference report (H. Rept. 104-863) on H.R. 3610 (which began as the Defense Appropriations Bill). Below is a repeat on the agreed upon amounts for LSCA and HEA II library programs: PROGRAM FY96 ADMIN. FY97 HSE. FY97 SEN. FY97 (in thousands) APPROP. REQ. FY97 PASSED COMMITTEE FINAL LSCA I $ 92,636 --- $ 92,636 $ 92,636 $100,636 LSCA II 16,369 --- 0 16,369 16,369 LSCA III 18,000 --- 11,864 11,864 11,864 HEA II-B ed/tr 2,500 --- 2,500 2,500 2,500 HEA II-B R&D 3,000 --- 1,000 5,000 5,000 Undistributed $110,000 TOTAL $132,505 $110,000 $108,000 $128,369 $136,369 Of the $5 million provided for the Higher Education Act title II-B library research and demonstration program, conferees specified--either in the bill itself or in report language--that the following projects should be funded: $1 million to be competitively awarded to a nonprofit regional social tolerance resource center, operating tolerance tools and prejudice reduction programs and multimedia tolerance and genocide exhibits; $1.5 million for the continuation of a demonstration project making information available for public use by connecting Internet to a multistate consortium and a historical society (expansion of the Portland, OR, Area Library Network System); $1 million for continuation of catalog conversion of research and doctoral institutions and networking of local libraries under the fiber optics demonstration initiated in PL 102-394 (HEA sec. 223); and $500,000 for the establishment of a history project for the development of teaching and library materials focused on the history of the Columbia River Basin (mentioned in report language only). An upcoming report will focus on increases in numerous elementary and secondary education programs. Additional amounts for selected library and related programs in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education portion of the omnibus measure are provided below. PROGRAM FY96 ADMIN. FY97 HSE. FY97 SEN. FY97 (in thousands) APPROP. REQ. FY97 PASSED COMMITTEE FINAL Natl. Commission on Libs. & Info. Sci. $ 829 $ 897 $ 812 $ 897 $ 897 Natl. Lib. of Medicine 140,936 143,268 150,093 142,070 151,103 Adult educ./literacy 259,583 300,000 254,000 261,583 354,562 College work-study 616,508 679,000 685,000 616,508 830,000 Ed. research/statistics 185,871 190,750 204,264 185,871 206,408 International educ. 56,151 59,073 58,231 59,573 59,751 Volunteer service 198,117 226,109 203,969 203,969 213,969 ACTION NEEDED: Library supporters should thank their legislators for voting for the final omnibus bill, averting a government shutdown, and increasing funding for education and libraries. Local district phone numbers of legislators can be obtained from the Contacting the Congress Web site . _________________________________________________________________ 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 ALA Washington Office Newsline. Visit our Web site at . 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 Mary R. Costabile Deirdre A. Herman All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================