================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 33 ISSN 1069-7799 March 30, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (130 lines) BUDGET OUTLINES INDICATE DIFFICULT BUDGET YEAR; ACTION NEEDED ON LIBRARY PROGRAM FUNDING ACTION NEEDED: NONPROFIT ANTI-ADVOCACY VOTE SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 30 _________________________________________________________________ BUDGET OUTLINES INDICATE DIFFICULT BUDGET YEAR; ACTION NEEDED ON LIBRARY PROGRAM FUNDING After the President submits his budget, the House and Senate begin the budget resolution process. The budget resolution outlines funding levels for large wedges of the budget pie, but it is usually not specific about individual program levels. However, on March 17 Senate Budget Committee Chair Pete Domenici (R-NM) proposed a much more specific FY99 budget resolution, including a less than one percent increase over FY98 spending for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. The FY99 Labor-HHS-Education budget (1) assumes no funding for any of the President's education initiatives, (2) would consolidate unspecified existing education programs, and (3) would put increased funding in ESEA Title VI. (While increased funding might benefit school librarians, at this stage there is no guarantee that the purposes for which ESEA VI funds could be spent would stay the same.) In the Labor-HHS-Education budget area, library and education programs compete for the same wedge of the pie, but Congress seems intent on putting most of the increase available this year into health research. Also skewing the budget maneuvering is a controversial, huge increase in transportation spending already well along to enactment. Another issue affecting the outcome of the FY99 budget resolution is a requirement that any potential revenues from an as-yet-to-be-passed tobacco settlement legislation to go solely to Medicare reform. When balanced budget agreement levels are exceeded -- as they will be by large proposed increases in health and transportation -- other areas of the discretionary budget have to be cut. There seems to be agreement on both Senate and House sides that any surplus occurring either in this fiscal year or next will not be spent, but will be applied towards social security. At this first stage of the process, the conclusion to be drawn is that if the current budget rules stay the same, some programs will inevitably be kept flat or cut in order to increase others. As always, the squeaky wheel fares better. It will be extremely important for library supporters to make the case early and often with Representatives and Senators on the need for funding for library and related programs. ACTION NEEDED: For the Library Services and Technology Act, ask your Representative and your Senators to recommend $160 million for FY99 -- a $13 million dollar increase over the $146,340,000 provided in FY98 and requested by the Administration. A strong investment will connect more libraries to the Internet, support literacy for young children and adults, help libraries provide job and consumer health information, serve small business, and provide information for lifelong learning. In this tight budget year, school library media specialists should emphasize that library materials provide needed information to students and a wide variety of reading materials for new readers. Librarians teach students information-seeking skills critical in today's competitive job market. Without ESEA Title VI funds, school libraries would have no federal support for school library materials. For LSTA or ESEA VI, ask your legislator to write in support of increased funding to Rep. John Porter (R-IL), chair of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, or Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee. Contact your Representative and your Senators in his or her district office or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Invite a legislator to visit your school or library, see the key services being provided to constituents, and offer an opportunity for the legislator to read to children in the library. _________________________________________________________________ ACTION NEEDED: NONPROFIT ANTI-ADVOCACY VOTE SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 30 The Campaign Finance bill, H.R. 3485, is scheduled to be brought to the House floor tonight, March 30. The bill contains the nonprofit anti-advocacy provision described in ALAWON, v7, n30, March 24, 1998. The bill is coming to the floor on the suspension calendar, which means no amendments are permitted, and 2/3 of the House must vote in the affirmative to pass the bill. This means that the nonprofit anti-advocacy provision cannot be removed from H.R. 3485 when the vote occurs. Four bills related to campaign issues are scheduled for tonight under the suspension calendar. Although it had been announced earlier that the vote on the bill would be delayed until late April or May, in a surprise move last Friday, H.R. 3485 was scheduled to be brought to the floor tonight. The vote will be some time after 6:00pm EST. ACTION NEEDED: Continue calls to your Representative asking her or him to oppose the nonprofit anti-advocacy provision in Title I of H.R. 3485. _________________________________________________________________ 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: Carol C. Henderson Mary Costabile Anne Heanue All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================