****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 4, Number 1 January 6, 1995 In this issue: (183 lines) 104TH CONGRESS BRINGS SEA CHANGE TO WASHINGTON SPEAKER GINGRICH SPEAKS AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TO LAUNCH _THOMAS_ *************************************************************************** 104TH CONGRESS BRINGS SEA CHANGE TO WASHINGTON BIDDING WAR ON CUTS EMERGING The new Republican majority in Congress, the congressional Democratic leadership, and the Clinton Administration are all putting forth proposals involving middle class tax cuts, with substantial cuts in federal programs as a way to pay for the tax cut and downsize government. Details are not fully spelled out yet in some of these proposals. However, what seems to be emerging is a bidding war on which proposals can cut or eliminate the most programs, or who will get credit for the results. WHERE ARE THE PROPOSALS COMING FROM? CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS: While many members of the 104th Congress may need a map to find their way around Capitol Hill, there will be no need for a legislative road map. New Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich (R-GA), has supplied directions with a modified version of the pre-election "Contract with America." Legislation to implement the Contract has been prepared and will be introduced in the first few days of the new year. Many procedural steps set the tone on the first day the representatives were sworn in. To pay for a balanced budget, tax cuts, and increased defense spending, many programs would be cut. Entire cabinet agencies, including the Department of Education, could be eliminated. Speaker Gingrich has spoken favorably of libraries and recently applauded the Library of Congress and stated his support for increasing the Library of Congress budget. His interest in and commitment to using new technologies may also be supportive of some library efforts but the overall environment is one of _devolution_ or downsizing rather maintain or expanding federal programs. SENATE REPUBLICANS: On the Senate side, Republicans, led by Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), are also expected to cut and consolidate programs. An early rescission (cutting FY95 funds already appropriated if funds are not yet spent) and budget reconciliation package (identifying cuts to make in FY96) are expected in the first few weeks of 1995. HOUSE DEMOCRATS: New House minority leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) has also proposed a middle class tax cut, paid for with unspecified cuts and savings. CLINTON ADMINISTRATION: President Clinton has revived his own middle-class tax cut proposal, to be paid for with major agency cuts, continued budget caps on discretionary spending, consolidations, and privatization. Although the Department of Education is not a major target, a significant portion of "other" cuts will be proposed. Some of these cuts are yet to be determined, but will show up in the Administration's FY96 budget request in January. While Democratic proposals are not likely to receive a detailed review in a Republican Congress, they indicate that an intention to reduce the number and size of federal programs is coming from many points on the political spectrum. WHAT'S IN DANGER? All library programs and many related programs from which libraries benefit are known to be on the cut lists from which these proposals draw. The following programs are at risk because they are listed on background documents to the House Republican Contract with America, or because they are on the cut list developed earlier in 1994 by a Balanced Budget Task Force chaired by Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-NY). The Solomon list is considered to be one of the sources for a Republican budget rescission and reconciliation package. o Library Services and Construction Act, and o Higher Education Act title II library programs (FY 96 funding in danger; FY 95 rescissions could be proposed for LSCA VI and HEA II-B programs) o School Library Media Resources program, ESEA III, part F (in danger because the overall agenda will make funding new programs very difficult) o Arts and Humanities Endowments (must be reauthorized, either separately or as part of appropriations process, in order to be funded; thus NEA and NEH will be early targets for budget cutting and for those politicians who are opposed to any government role in support of the arts and humanities) o High Performance Computing and Communications initiative (identified with Clinton/Gore Administration, and considered to be industrial policy) o Improving America's Schools Act, ESEA reauthorization (Title III ed tech programs, school block grant, aid to disadvantaged schoolchildren, many other new and renewed programs are at risk) o National libraries and related programs (Budget cuts are likely to affect Library of Congress, National Agricultural Library, National Library of Medicine, National Archives, Depository Library Program and GPO Access Act, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science) In short, the entire federal role in support of libraries and information services could be severely damaged or wiped out in a rush to cut and eliminate government programs and services to downsize government. In a new "devolution" movement, some federal roles could be shifted to the states. However, governors have already expressed concern that they do not have the resources, nor are they likely to receive the resources from the federal level, to take on all these roles. WHAT CAN YOU DO? New and returning members need to be educated about the value of federal investment in library programs. Library programs are certainly at the top of the list when it comes to reaching the largest population for the least expenditure of federal dollars. Library Service and Construction Act (LSCA) programs have tremendous potential to leverage funds. Giving some local examples of innovative programs funded by LSCA or HEA dollars will make your case specific. Invitations extended to your Representatives and Senators to visit your library will also help in the education process. Now is the time to speak, write and communicate the library success story to those who have the power to continue or eliminate library programs. Please continue to share information received from your congressional contacts with the ALA Washington Office. *************************************************************************** SPEAKER GINGRICH SPEAKS AT LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TO LAUNCH _THOMAS_ A new online public access system of congressional information, THOMAS, was launched by the Library of Congress on January 5. During only his second day in office as Speaker of the House, Gingrich introduced _THOMAS_ and spoke about the possibilities for building a national dialogue in the electronic age, with the opportunities to provide full and un-biased information about the legislative process to all the nation. Gingrich sees such a service from L.C. as an opportunity for "intellectual populism" to develop. THOMAS, which is named to honor Thomas Jefferson, received strong House support from Gingrich and others who spoke at the event. Gingrich stated his general support for libraries in general, and the Library of Congress in particular, when he spoke about how such a service will be accessible across the nation to elementary school students and advanced scholars alike. THOMAS is to provide access to the full text of bills from the 104th Congress by the end of January. Already it provides access to the documents from the 103rd congress as well as providing a link to the directory, calendar, and floor schedules of the House. Ultimately, the full text of the Congressional Record will be available in addition to the L.C. Congressional Research Service's Bill Digest, which summarizes and tracks bills for the Congress. All of these resources are to make the full text of bills available to the American public to search more easily for legislation and to understand more fully the law-making process. *************************************************************************** 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. Contributing to this issue: Carol C. Henderson, ALA-WO; Executive Director; Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@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 list serv. 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***