ALAWON v4n64 (July 13, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n64

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                                                             ISSN 1069-7799
                                  ALAWON
                      ALA Washington Office Newsline
                     An electronic publication of the
              American Library Association Washington Office

                            Volume 4, Number 64
                               July 13, 1995

   In this issue: (90 lines)
     HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ACTS ON LIBRARY/EDUCATION FUNDING
          ACTION NEEDED:  CONTACT CONGRESSMEN TO EXPRESS IMPORTANCE OF
                          LIBRARY PROGRAMS
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           HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ACTS ON LIBRARY/EDUCATION FUNDING

The first step in the appropriations process for FY96 took place late on
July 11 when the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and
Human Services, and Education met to recommend funding levels for library,
education, and other programs.

The result for Department of Education library programs is a 29.8 percent
cut from FY95 funding.  Only LSCA I and III were recommended for funding--
LSCA I at the current level and LSCA III with a 23 percent cut.  LSCA
construction and literacy programs would be zeroed out, as would all Higher
Education Act library programs.

Education Department programs overall were cut by 28 percent.  Certain
House Budget Resolution assumptions were followed as the subcommittee cut
drastically or abolished altogether such programs as the Goals 2000
education reform effort, and the AmeriCorps national service program.  ESEA
I would be cut by $1.1 billion, with over 20 percent of the cuts occurring
in urban areas.

The library program cuts are substantial but should be looked at in context
in this budget-cutting session.  The first context is the one the
subcommittee itself is using in its summary sheet.  For libraries, this
sheet shows a 100 percent cut in "library construction and categoricals,"
and a 5.3 percent cut in "library services and cooperation."

Clearly, smaller and single-purpose library programs are at much greater
risk.  This is not new, as these programs have lost funding or been
recommended for no funding consistently in recent years.  The House
subcommittee markup for FY96 is not drastically different from the House
subcommittee recommendations of the last few years under the previous
leadership.

Subcommittee recommendations for selected library and related programs are
shown below.

PROGRAM                                FY95     ADMIN.    HOUSE
(amounts in housands)                APPROP.  REQUEST    SUBCOM.

LSCA I--Public Library Services      $83,227   $89,135   $83,227
LSCA II--Library Construction         17,792    17,792     -0-
LSCA III--Interlibrary Cooperation    23,700     -0-      18,000
LSCA VI--Library Literacy programs     8,000     -0-       -0-

HEA II-B--Library Education and
  Training                             4,916     -0-       -0-
HEA II-B--Library Research and
  Demonstrations                       6,500     -0-       -0-

NCLIS                                    901       901       450
Natl. Library of Medicine            128,694   139,473   141,439
School improvement programs
 (Chapter 2 and prof. dev.)          598,548   735,000   500,000
ESEA Education technology             22,500    83,000    25,000
College Work-Study                   616,508   616,508   616,508
Educ. statistics                      48,153    57,000    48,153

It is expected that the full Appropriations Committee will act on these
recommendations on July 20 (after which the legislation will have a bill
number), and the House will complete action before the August recess.  The
Senate Appropriations Committee will take up the bill in September.

ACTION NEEDED:  Library supporters have a few weeks to contact House
members to express the importance of library programs, and the month of
August to contact Senators in their home districts.  It will be
particularly important in this budget climate to continue to stress the
importance of library programs, since so many large programs were cut in
House action.  Senate appropriators will be hard pressed to find dollars to
restore cuts, considering extremely tight allocations and competing
programs.
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ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library
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