================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 78 ISSN 1069-7799 September 12, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (215 lines) FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE ORDER REGARDING DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FOR LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS, AND RURAL HEALTH CARE CONGRESS CONSIDERS FY98 FUNDING FOR THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS COMMISSION - ACTION NEEDED _________________________________________________________________ FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE ORDER REGARDING DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FOR LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS, AND RURAL HEALTH CARE On Septermber 10 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Public Notice seeking comments on the Universal Service support distribution options for schools, libraries and rural health care providers (DA 97-1957, CC Docket 96-45). Specifically, the FCC is seeking comments on the "rules of priority" for allocating universal service support funds if or when libraries and schools should deplete the fund to within $250 million of the $2.25 billion cap.(See BACKGROUND below, and May 7, and May 16 ALAWONs.) The FCC is also seeking comment on recommendations made by the "E-Rate Implementation Working Group" on July 31, 1997 on allocating support to individual institutions that apply for funds on an aggregated (e.g. statewide or districtwide) basis. (See August 13 ALAWON). ALA has participated extensively in both the proceeding resulting in the May 7, 1997 FCC Report and Order and in the E-Rate Implementation Working Group as a member of the Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC). Other members of the Working Group were the U.S. Department of Education, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Telecommunications and Information Adminsitration of the Department of Commerce, and the Rural Utilites Services of the Department of Agriculture. ALA has supported both the FCC May 7 Report and Order and the recommendations of the Working Group. ALA will be filing further recommendations and comments in response to the FCC's September 10 request for comments. Suggestions for ALA's response can be sent to Aleck S. Johnson, Research Associate, American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy, (e-mail: asj@alawash.org). Comments can also be sent directly to the FCC by September 25, 1974. FCC comments should reference DA 97-1957 and CC Docket 96-45 and must include an original and four copies of their comments which should be submitted with the Office of Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Room 222, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554. Parties should also send eight copies of their comments to Sheryl Todd, Universal Service Branch, Accounts and Audits Division, Federal Communications Coimmission, 2100 M St., N.W., 8th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20554 and one copy to the FCC's copy contractor, International Transcription Service, 1231 20th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. BACKGROUND In its order on universal service, the Commission determined that funds for eligible schools, libraries, and rural health care providers will be distributed on a "first-come first-served basis" beginning January 1, 1998. The Commission also established a $2.25 billion annual cap on universal service support for schools and libraries and a $400 million annual cap for rural health care providers. Eligible schools and libraries will be required to participate in a competitive bidding process to select their service providers and will be permitted to submit funding requests once they have made agreements for specific eligible services. The Administrator will commit funds based on those agreements on a "first-come first-served basis" until only $250 million in funds remains available within a funding year. Thereafter, a system of priorities will govern the distribution of the remaining $250 million to provide an opportunity for only the most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries to receive support. In light of the need to implement the necessary administrative processes, funding for the period beginning January 1, 1998 and ending June 30, 1998 will be limited to $1 billion for schools and libraries. Similarly, disbursement to rural health care providers will be limited to $100 million in the first quarter of 1998. There has been extensive debate on whether or not K-12 schools and libraries will even come close to maxing out the cap. In response to concerns expressed about distributing support to schools, libraries, and rural health care providers on a first-come, first-serve basis, the Commission seeks comment on the following issues under the title: "Potential for Exhaustion of Funds". --should a "window" period be established in which all beneficiaries filing within that period would be given equal priority?. --should there be a clarification of the rules of priority for distributing funds to schools and libraries that would apply to the $1 billion available between January 1, 1998 through June 30, 1998? --are there any other methods available that might ensure a broad and fair distribution of funds, particularly at the earliest stages of these support programs. ALLOCATION OF AGGREGATED REQUESTS FOR FUNDS The Commission is also seeking comment on the "E-Rate Implementation Working Group," report to the Commission on certain issues regarding universal service support for schools and libraries. (See August 13, 1997 ALAWON). The Working Group Report proposes a method for allocating support to individual institutions that apply for funds on an aggregated (e.g., statewide or districtwide) basis. Copies of the report are available at http://www.ed.gov/Technology. The complete Public Notice, including instructions for filing comments can be viewed at the FCC's website: http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/ 1997/da971957.html. For further information, please contact: Richard D. Smith or Lori Wright, at the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau, (202) 418-7400 or call the ALA Office for Infomation Technology Policy at (202) 628-8421. _________________________________________________________________ CONGRESS CONSIDERS FY98 FUNDING FOR THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND NATIONAL HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS COMMISSION - ACTION NEEDED House floor action on H.R. 2378, Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations (H. Rept.105-240), is anticipated the week of September 15. This bill funds the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The House Appropriations Committee voted prior to the August recess for a budget of $5.5 million for the FY98 grants program of NHPRC and for $202.354 million for NARA's operational budget. On July 22 the Senate passed its version of the bill, S. 1023 (S. Rept. 105-49), which includes $5 million for NHPRC grants and $206.479 million for NARA's operating budget. Once H.R. 2378 passes, a conference committee including members of the House and Senate Treasury Appropriations Subcommittees will work out the differences between the House and Senate bill. For FY98, President Clinton requested $206.47 million for the operating expenses of NARA, which is slightly higher than the FY97 level of $196.963, and $4 million for the NHPRC grants program, which is 20 percent below the FY97 level of $5 million. Rationale for supporting funding for NARA and NHPRC grants: As the federal government continues to shift its record keeping practices from paper to computer records, NARA has a major challenge to provide guidance to agencies for handling government information in the electronic environment and of providing the hardware and software for researchers to access electronic records that have been transferred to NARA. Currently about 20 percent of the records at NARA do not have adequate finding aids to make them accessible to the general public and scholars who rely on reference guides for locating records. While NARA is implementing an electronic access project, basic descriptive work must be done on these records before that information can be placed into a centralized electronic catalog. The NHPRC makes grants each year to institutions to preserve historical records, publish historical papers, and make historical materials more accessible. Among eligible applicants are educational and other nonprofit institutions including universities, libraries, and archives. NHPRC grants are a good investment for the nation. They result in major matching funds from private sources which would not have been available otherwise. ACTION NEEDED: Urge Senators who will be participating in the House/ Senate conference on H.R. 2378, Treasury, Postal Service, General Government Appropriations for FY98, to support the House amount of $5.5 million for the NHPRC grants program and the Senate amount of $206.479 million for the NARA operating budget. The Senate conferees are expected to be: Senators Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Lauch Faircloth (R-NC), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Robert Byrd (D-WV). _________________________________________________________________ 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 listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Anne A. Heanue Claudette W. Tennant J. Andrew Magpantay All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================