****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 26 March 20, 1995 In this issue: (184 lines) NTIA INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS THREATENED BY RESCISSIONS - ACTION NEEDED: IMMEDIATE RESPONSE NEEDED TO SAVE TIIAP GRANTS LEGISLATIVE REORGANIZATION BILLS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS DUNN BILL H.R. 1024 INTRODUCED TO "TRANSFORM" GPO AIR LINE FUEL TAX REPEAL LINKED TO PRIVATIZING GPO HAMILTON INTRODUCES LEGISLATIVE REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1995 *************************************************************************** NTIA INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM THREATENED BY RESCISSIONS - ACTION ALERT: IMMEDIATE RESPONSE NEEDED TO SAVE TIIAP GRANTS The "TIIAP technology grants" administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in the Department of Commerce may be zeroed-out in this latest round of rescissions. Several of these grants, officially called the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP), were received by a number of libraries or had libraries as partners in community coalitions that received awards last Fall. $24.4 million in grants were awarded in FY1994. The original FY1995 budget appropriated $63 million. But now the Senate has accepted an amendment offered by Senators Gramm and Hollings to HR 889, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act of 1995, which will rescind $34 million from the Information Infrastructure grants. The rationale offered for this cut was that the program has not been fully authorized by Congress in previous legislative action. An additional $30 million is proposed to be rescinded from the TIIAP grants in H.R. 1158, passed by the House. If both of these rescissions pass Congress in their present form, NTIA will have NO funding for the FY1995 Information Infrastructure grants It was only a few weeks ago, that NTIA announced March 23 as the deadline for letters of intent for potential TIIAP applicants. Last year the Department of Commerce reported that the $24.4 million in TIIAP grants had leveraged $43 million of additional private, state and local funding in the 48 jurisdictions that had received the grants. ACTION NEEDED: To show support for these grants, please contact your Senators and Representatives to express your support for the NTIA-TIIAP grants program. Ask your Congressional representatives to appropriate and authorize the TIIAP program for this year. To insure future support for the program Congress must actually authorize the TIIAP program. *************************************************************************** LEGISLATIVE REORGANIZATION BILLS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS DUNN BILL H.R. 1024 INTRODUCED TO "TRANSFORM" GPO H.R. 1024, a bill to "improve the dissemination of information and printing procedures of the government," was introduced on February 23 by Representative Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) and 27 colleagues. H.R. 1024 would transform the Government Printing Office into a procurement agency that, with some exceptions, would procure printing from the private sector for Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Judiciary. The bill would permit executive branch agencies and GPO to print in-house, as long as the order does not exceed 4,000 copies of a single sheet document, or 20,000 sheets for a multi-paged document. Executive branch agencies could procure printing if approved by written waiver by the Public Printer. In a February 23 statement to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee about the bill, Dunn said that "requiring that all printing go through GPO procurement helps to eliminate the fugitive document problem." She continued, "my bill specifically protects the needs of the 1400 depository libraries, and therefore the ability of the American public to access information." Dunn, responding to librarians' concerns, included a requirement that contracts for publications must include a term that a sufficient quantity of the product be made available to the Superintendent of Documents for inclusion in the depository library program. The bill also would keep the procurement and dissemination functions together. Keeping these functions together is essential in assuring that publications in all formats will get to depository libraries and the public. Without such an arrangement the number of fugitive documents will increase. However, the bill would alter the balance of power over the printing and publishing operations of the federal government since it abolishes the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) and diffuses its responsibilities to a number of entities. Those entities include the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the House Committee on Oversight, the Secretary of the Senate, an "appropriate official of the House of Representatives," the Public Printer, and the Office of Management and Budget. There would no longer be a focal point, a joint entity where differences of opinion on policy and procedures can be resolved. GPO will have many masters. The public's ability to easily contact a body accountable for GPO's actions will be eliminated. By transferring the administrative functions of the JCP to GPO, the bill would add to the power of the Public Printer in such areas as cataloging (sec. 1710), how to save money in running the depository library program (sec. 1914), and the sales program (sec. 1108). The avenue of appeal to a higher authority would be eliminated. The Public Printer would no longer have to submit plans for approval to a Congressional committee. H.R. 1024 has been referred to the Committee on House Oversight chaired by Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA), who has said he would hold hearings this spring on the future of GPO. The bill is supported by the printing industry. *************************************************************************** AIR LINE FUEL TAX REPEAL LINKED TO PRIVATIZING GPO On January 31 Representative Dunn issued a press release linking her goal of privatizing the Government Printing Office with efforts to repeal the airline fuel tax. Dunn joined Representatives Mac Collins (R-GA), Sue Myrick (R-FL), William Clinger (R-PA), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Phil English (R-PA), Mike Parker (D-MS), James Talent (R-MO), John Linder (R-GA), Jack Kingston (R-GA), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Gerald Solomon (R-NY), Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Norman Mineta (D-CA), Bud Shuster (R-PA), James Oberstar (D-MN), John Duncan (R-TN), Harris Fawell (R-IL), Jack Quinn (R-NY), and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), in introducing H.R. 752, the Commercial Aviation Fuel Tax Repeal Act of 1995. A similar bill, S. 304, was introduced January 31 by Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA), Richard Bryan (D-NV), Slade Gorton (R-WA), and Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL). Both bills would repeal the airline fuel tax that President Clinton included in his 1993 budget. While Congress granted the airlines industry a two-year exemption from the transportation fuel tax, that exemption is scheduled to expire by October 1, 1995. According to Dunn, a "significant down payment" to offset the tax repeal could be found by privatizing GPO. Dunn plans to sell three GPO buildings and other assets. *************************************************************************** HAMILTON INTRODUCES LEGISLATIVE REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1995 Representative Lee Hamilton (D-IN) introduced H.R. 252, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1995, on January 4. The bill is similar to the legislative reorganization bill that did not pass in the 103rd Congress that would have--among many things--abolished the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee on the Library and transferred most of their functions to a proposed Joint Committee on Information Management. H.R. 252 would require that the Government Printing Office the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress be reauthorized every 8 years. The bill also mentions Depository Libraries in sec. 107, "Availability of Legislative Information." The section provides that "appropriate legislative information" should be made available to the public and the Depository Libraries through a low-cost computer connection. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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: Anne A. Heanue; 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. 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