The following update of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee is
provided to the preservation community by ACRA and CEHP Incorporated.  Except
for the less than lethal cut taken by the Advisory Council, this is basically
good news.  We still need to get the Council's budget back up to $3.1 million
if we can.
 
Tom Wheaton
Exec. Dir. - ACRA
 
Date:  Wed, Jul 26, 1995 6:39 PM EDT
 
SENATE INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
APPROVES 1996 BILL - FUNDS FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION
July 26, 1995
 
 The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee today approved the bill to
provide funds for the Department of Interior & Related Agencies for fiscal
1996.  Among other things, the bill provides funds for historic preservation
programs.  Following are the highlights of the bill compared to the amounts
approved by the full House and Senate Appropriations Committee. (Note:
amounts are in millions)
 
Senate - House
$32.712 - $34.4     Historic Preservation Fund (Original request $34.4
million)
     States/local governments, Tribes, & Historic Black Colleges
 
$  5.6 - $3.5     National Trust for Hist. Pres. (Original request:$7
million)
 
$  2.5 - $3.063     Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
 
BACKGROUND:
 The Senate would cut the Historic Preservation Fund by a little over $1.7
million of the amounts for the states/tribes and Black colleges or
approximately 5%. The House had kept the funding level at last year's
amounts.  The National Trust proposed and the Senate Appropriations Committee
accepted a 5-year phase out of their federal funds. The House included only
$3.5 million this year and proposed no funding in future years.
 
  The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee today voted to support $2.5
million for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, with no provisions
calling for its elimination. This is over $500,000 less than the House
approved.  However, this was a major reversal for the Senate, as the Council
had been  targeted by the Senate Budget Committee for elimination in fiscal
year 1997.  The House Appropriations Committee had proposed eliminating the
Council entirely, and would have funded it with only $1 million to close it
out in 1996; the full House overturned this recommendation and voted 267-130
to restore full funding of the Council at $3.063 million.
 
ACTION:  No action is needed now.  The full Senate Appropriations Committee
is scheduled to consider the bill on Friday, July 28.  No change in the
preservation requests are anticipated.
 
 If you wish to communicate your views to the Senate, you may do so by
calling the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.