_________________________________________________________________ ALAWON Volume 7, Number 130 ISSN 1069-7799 October 21, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (113 lines) [1] CONGRESS PASSES OMNIBUS FUNDING AND AUTHORIZING BILL [2] INTERNET RELATED ISSUES _________________________________________________________________ [1] CONGRESS PASSES OMNIBUS FUNDING AND AUTHORIZING BILL A massive omnibus measure containing eight appropriations bills, various emergency aid, and several substantial and numerous smaller authorizing bills was passed by the House (333-95)on October 20 and by the Senate (65-29) on October 21. The 105th Congress will now adjourn. (However, the House will continue pro forma sessions so that the Judiciary Committee can continue its work on an impeachment inquiry.) This monster legislation (reportedly some 16 inches high and 40 pounds)is the product of a series of agreements reached between congressional leaders and the Administration. It was filed and made available to legislators Monday evening, and also printed as an additional issue of the Congressional Record, but is not yet electronically available to the public, although that is expected today. The legislative vehicle is the conference report (H. Rept. 105-825) on H.R. 4328, the Transportation Appropriations Bill for FY 1999. While it will clearly take some time to fully analyze the omnibus measure to be sure what is and is not included, here is some preliminary information on funding levels for selected library and education programs. SELECTED LIBRARY AND EDUCATION PROGRAM FUNDING (in thousands) PROGRAM FY98 FUNDING FY99 PRES. BUDGET LSTA $ 146.3 $ 146.3 Reading** 0 50.0 ESEA VI 350.0 0 Ed. Tech.*** 584.0 721.0 21C. Learning Ctrs. 40.0 200.0 College Work Study 830.0 900.0 Teachers**** 0 1,100.0 NCLIS 1.0 1.0 PROGRAM (cont.) HOUSE BILL SENATE BILL FINAL FY99 LSTA $ 146.3 $ 156.3 $ 166.2* Reading** 0 0 260.0 ESEA VI 400.0 350.0 375.0 Ed. Tech.*** 541.0 623.5 698.1 21C.Learning Ctrs. 60.0 75.0 200.0 College Work Study 850.0 900.0 870.0 Teachers**** 0 0 1,194.0 NCLIS 1.0 1.0 1.0 * LSTA total includes level funding for state grants; Congress put the increase in the National Leadership Grants, which receive a total of $25m from LSTA, of which $15.4m is for specific earmarked projects. ** Reading Excellence Act (This congressional revision of the Administration’s America Reads children’s literacy initiative,is authorized in the omnibus package.) *** Total of various programs **** Class size reduction teacher recruitment and training [2] INTERNET RELATED ISSUES Our understanding is that the omnibus package contains no requirements to have libraries or schools install and use filtering and blocking software as a condition of receiving federal funds or the e-rate. Included in the omnibus package was a revised version of Rep. Michael Oxley’s (R-OH) bill, the Child Online Protection Act (H.R. 3783), to prohibit the commercial distribution on the web to minors of material that is "harmful to minors." Included in the omnibus package was the Internet Tax Freedom Act, a 3-year moratorium on Internet taxation. Included in the omnibus package was an amended version of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (S. 2326). The bill imposes parental consent or notice before children (12 and under) could give any personally identifiable information to commercial web sites targeted to children; however, nonprofit organizations are excluded from the scope of the bill. _________________________________________________________________ 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, go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/ subscribe.html or send the message: unsubscribe alawo 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 Contributor: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. _________________________________________________________________