ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 117 November 18, 1999 In this issue: [1] Labor-HHS-Education Funding Update [2] E-rate Form 471 Window Opens [1] Labor-HHS-Education Funding Update Late today the House debated H.R. 3194, an omnibus appropriations bill for the remaining appropriations bills, including the Labor- HHS-Education appropriations. Although the bill is not yet printed, appropriations committee charts show library programs increased to $166.8 million. It may be that the increases occur in the National Leadership Grant program; the IMLS state grant remains at the level previously reported. Increases in Pell grants, Title I, Community Based Technology Centers, Teacher Training and Adult Education State Grants have been achieved in some cases by a great deal of funding-pay-out in FY2001. That certainly is the case with the Reading Excellence Act which totals $260 million, but pays out only $65 million in FY2000. The Interior Appropriations bill is also included in this omnibus bill and would fund the National Endowment for the Humanities at $115.7 million; the National Endowment for the Arts at $98 million and the museum side of the Institute of Museum and Library Services at $24.4 million. While an agreement with the Administration has occurred, there are several possible road blocks that may appear when the bill reaches the Senate. Several matters of concern remain to be settled and it is now expected that debate on the bill in the Senate will continue next week. Part of the agreed-upon solution to the budget impasse would allow the President to decide where to impose cuts required to make up a .38 percent cut. ALAWON will report more fully on specific line item programs when more details are available. [2] E-rate Form 471 Window Opens Libraries are encouraged to file applications for Year Three of the E-rate now. On November 10 the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) announced (see http://www.sl.universalservice.org/announce.asp#window ) the opening of a 71-day filing window. The window will close January 19, 2000 at 11:59 p.m. One change in Year Three is that the application package will not be mailed to all libraries and schools. Instead a letter will be mailed and interested applicants can request the forms by calling the SLD Client Service Bureau at 1-888-203-8100. But you do not have to wait for this invitation! All applicants with the capability are urged to file both Forms 471 and 470 online. Filing online eliminates most "fatal errors" (errors that will stop the application from being processed), speeds application processing, and reduces data input errors. The Year Three Forms 470 and 471 can be completed on or downloaded from the SLD Web site, at www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/forms.asp. All properly completed applications received (not posted) by the closing date will be treated as if they arrived on the same day. After the window closes, applications will be treated on a first- come, first-served basis until funding is exhausted. E-rate discounts can make a difference in helping your library to get basic telecommunications services, Internet access, and certain internal connections. Don't wait! Start filing your forms today! ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Editor: Lynne E. Bradley; Managing Editor: Deirdre Herman; Contributors: Mary Costabile, Peter Kaplan, Miriam Nisbet, Carrie Russell, Emily Sheketoff, Saundra Shirley, Claudette Tennant and Rick Weingarten.