_________________________________________________________________ ALAWON Volume 7, Number 134 ISSN 1069-7799 October 27, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (153 lines) [1] CONGRESS FUNDS LSTA AT $166.2 MILLION FOR FY99; INCREASE IS FOR NATIONAL LEADERSHIP GRANTS AND SPECIFIC PROJECTS [2] NO FILTERING OR BLOCKING SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR LIBRARIES OR SCHOOLS _________________________________________________________________ [1] CONGRESS FUNDS LSTA AT $166.2 MILLION FOR FY99; INCREASE IS FOR NATIONAL LEADERSHIP GRANTS AND SPECIFIC PROJECTS The omnibus package (H.R. 4328, P.L. 105-277) that was given final approval by Congress on October 21 and signed by the President the same day, includes $166,175,000 for the Library Services and Technology Act for FY99, the fiscal year that began October 1. This amount is almost $20 million more than the FY98 level of $146,340,000 (the amount requested by the Administration for FY99). The House Appropriations Committee had recommended level funding; the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $156,340,000. Several short term funding measures kept this and other programs operating at previous levels between October 1 and 21. Most LSTA funding is allocated to states through state library agencies for statewide services and subgrants to all types of libraries for technological innovation and outreach services. A setaside of 1.75 percent provides grants for Native American library services. State grants and Native American library services would receive approximately level funding. However, according to the conference report on H.R. 4328 (H. Rept. 105-825), the LSTA total for FY99 includes $25 million for National Leadership Grants. (An additional $1 million is provided through separate funding from the $23,405,000 total appropriated for museum grants.) The $25 million for the NLG program accounts for the entire increase. Language in the bill overrides the usual 3.75 percent setaside for National Leadership Grants ($5,488,000 in FY98). Of the $25 million for National Leadership Grants, $15,435,000 is specified by Congress in the statute for individual awards as follows: "$10,000,000, to remain available until expended, shall be awarded to the National Constitution Center, established by Public Law 100-433, for exhibition design, program planning and operation of the Center to serve as a model between museums and libraries; $750,000 shall be for a Digital Geospatial and Numerical Data Library at the University of Idaho; $1,250,000 shall be awarded to the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; $2,000,000 shall be to enhance digitization at the New York Public Library; $35,000 shall be for the Children's Museum of Manhattan; $300,000 shall be for the State Historical Society of Iowa; and $1,100,000 shall be for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago." This statutory language means that the Institute of Museum and Library Services must award these particular grants, which will not be subject to the peer review or competitive process required of other grant applicants. The conference report says that of the $25 million, $4 million is available "for a broad-based competition on improving the quality of library and museum services." Regardless, the $4 million is actually the increase over the $5.5 million the NLG would normally have received, for a total of $9.5 million for competitive awards in FY99. The LSTA law provides for competitive NLG awards for library education and training, library research and demonstrations, library preservation and digitization, and model library/museum projects. The conference report also advises the IMLS Director to "give full and fair consideration" to applications from the Metropolitan Museum of Art ($500,000) and "an historic medical library." Full and fair consideration is also to be given to the University of South Carolina, Spartanburg ($1 million), an unnamed institution for a historical project to document the treatment of Italian-Americans during WWII ($750,000), Libraries for the Future ($500,000), the Milwaukee Public Museum ($1.5 million), and the University of Miami ($1 million). These last five are projects mentioned earlier in the Senate Appropriations Committee report (S. Rept. 105-300) on the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill (S. 2440). This year's bill is the first time LSTA has been subject to such specific statutory "earmarking," or "pork projects," as they are often called. Such earmarking is especially pronounced throughout the statute. For instance, of programs listed in the "education reform" account, some $19.5 million is earmarked for specific education technology projects; and in the education research, statistics and improvement account, some $29.4 million is earmarked for a variety of specific projects. Many other projects are listed in the conference or House and Senate (especially Senate) reports as those to which agencies are encouraged to give consideration. This unfortunate trend to earmark, especially in the statutory language where it overrides requirements in authorizing laws, tends to limit funding increases for basic programs, results in larger grants to fewer institutions, and rewards political clout rather than need or the best applications through the peer review process. ________________________________________________________________ [2] NO FILTERING OR BLOCKING SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR LIBRARIES OR SCHOOLS The conference report (H. Rept. 105-825) on the omnibus package (H.R. 4328, P.L. 105-277), specifies that the Istook amendment attached to the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill was dropped by House-Senate conferees. The McCain amendment attached to the Senate Department of Commerce Appropriations bill was also dropped by conferees. Thus no requirement was imposed on libraries or schools to install and use blocking and filtering software as a condition of receiving federal funding or the e-rate telecommunications discounts. _________________________________________________________________ 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 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. _________________________________________________________________