_________________________________________________________________ ALAWON Volume 7, Number 141 ISSN 1069-7799 November 13, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (116 lines) [1] EARLY ANALYSIS OF THE ELECTION'S IMPACT ON LIBRARY ISSUES [2] CORRECTION IN NOVEMBER 9, 1998 ALAWON (V7, N139): MILLIONS, NOT THOUSANDS _______________________________________________________________ [1] EARLY ANALYSIS OF THE ELECTION'S IMPACT ON LIBRARY ISSUES Election results keep confounding predictions. The first surprise was that President's party, which rarely gains seats in an off-year election, gained 5 seats in the House and lost none in the Senate. The second was that the election results prompted the resignation of House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), not only of his position but of his congressional seat as well. Rep. Robert Livingston (R-LA), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, is expected to be nominated for House Speaker on November 18 by the Republican Conference. Despite these dramatic developments, most of the significant changes for libraries and information policy were known before November 3 because they resulted from retirements or already likely changes in committee leadership. In the Senate, the retirement of Sen. Wendell Ford (D-KY), ranking minority member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, means the loss of a leader on government information dissemination policy and a strong supporter of libraries. Sen. John Warner (R-VA), cosponsor with Sen. Ford of a bill to reform government publications, is expected to become chair of the Armed Services Committee, and thus no longer in charge of government information policy in the Senate. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun's (D-IL) loss on November 3 removes a strong education and library supporter, especially for school construction and renovation needs. Several departing House members, all through retirement, will be missed for their support of a variety of library and related issues. They include Reps. Vic Fazio (D-CA), Elizabeth Furse (D-OR), Scott Klug (R-WI), David Skaggs (D-CO), Louis Stokes (D-OH), and Sidney Yates (D-IL). If the replacement to Rep. Livingston as House Appropriations Committee chair is chosen by seniority, he will be Rep. Bill Young (R-FL). Given the jockeying for other House leadership positions combined with the usual shifting of committee and subcommittee slots following any election, there may be some considerable adjustment in committee membership and leadership as the 106th Congress organizes. _________________________________________________________________ [2] CORRECTION IN NOVEMBER 9, 1998 ALAWON (V7, N139): MILLIONS, NOT THOUSANDS CORRECTION: In the Monday, November 9 ALAWON (v7, n139), Summary of End of Session Developments 105th Congress, Second Session, the Selected Library and Education Program Funding chart should have read (in millions), NOT (in thousands). We regret the error (and are grateful that it is millions). Thanks very much to the alert readers who brought this to our attention. The corrected chart is repeated below: SELECTED LIBRARY AND EDUCATION PROGRAM FUNDING (IN MILLIONS) - PASSED PROGRAM FY98 FY99 PRES. BUDGET FINAL FY99 LSTA $ 146.3 $ 146.3 $ 166.2* Reading** 0 50.0 260.0 ESEA VI 350.0 0 375.0 Ed. Tech.*** 584.0 721.0 698.1 21C L.Ctrs. 40.0 200.0 200.0 Work Study 830.0 900.0 870.0 Teachers**** 0 1,100.0 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 (America Reads children's literacy initiative) *** Total of various programs **** Class size reduction teacher recruitment and training _________________________________________________________________ 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. _________________________________________________________________