================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 55 ISSN 1069-7799 May 27, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (106 lines) - BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS UPDATE - ACTION ALERT: APPROPRIATIONS SCHEDULE; CEF-SPONSORED CALL-IN DAY JUNE 10 - SLC MAKES DATABASE OF SPIN CONTACTS AVAILABLE ONLINE - SENATE APPROVES NEA CHAIRMAN, NCLIS DIRECTOR _________________________________________________________________ BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS UPDATE On May 20 the House Budget Committee approved its version of the FY99 Budget Resolution. House floor action is expected early in June. The House Budget Resolution (no number yet) would cut up to $100 billion over the next five years from domestic spending below the levels agreed to in last year's Balanced Budget Act. This includes $46 billion from domestic discretionary programs, with $4.4 billion from education (including library programs) alone. The House Budget Resolution does not make provisions for the over $20 billion in new spending which would result from the transportation bill which is now working its way through House and Senate. The Senate-passed Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 86) cut education funding by $1.1 billion for FY99. Additionally, any relief for education from a proposed tobacco settlement seems to have evaporated. If the legislation is passed, any funding realized is expected to be used for health research. The House and Senate need to agree on a final Budget Resolution, but the proposal does not need to be signed by the President. _________________________________________________________________ ACTION ALERT: APPROPRIATIONS SCHEDULE; CEF-SPONSORED CALL-IN DAY JUNE 10 Appropriators will begin to mark up 13 appropriations bills beginning after the Memorial Day recess. The House Labor HHS Education Subcommittee, which handles education and library program funding, is expected to mark up its bill in late June. ACTION NEEDED: The Committee for Education Funding -- a coalition of more than 90 education and education-related organizations, and of which ALA is a member -- is sponsoring a "Stop the Squeeze on Education, Invest in America's Future" call-in day on Wednesday, June 10. The purpose is to make legislators aware that differing budget priorities are squeezing the funding availability for education and library programs. The U.S. Capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. _________________________________________________________________ SLC MAKES DATABASE OF SPIN CONTACTS AVAILABLE ONLINE The Schools and Libraries Corporation released its database of service providers on May 22. This database, whose purpose is to help E-rate applicants obtain the Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) they need for each vendor on their applications, allows applicants to look up the appropriate contact person at a service provider. SLC asks that libraries obtain the SPIN number from the service providers, rather than directly from SLC. This SPIN Contact Searchable Database is located in the Reference Area of the SLC's Web site (http://www.slcfund.org). Applicants who have been unable to locate a vendor's SPIN can call the SLC Client Service Bureau at 888-203-8100. _________________________________________________________________ SENATE APPROVES NEA CHAIRMAN, NCLIS DIRECTOR On May 21 the full Senate confirmed the appointment of William J. Ivey as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and the reappointment of Jeanne Hurley Simon to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Ivey, director of the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, would replace NEA former chair Jane Alexander. Simon is currently chairperson of NCLIS; her term will expire on July 19, 2002. _________________________________________________________________ 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 All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================