Historic Preservation Fund in the President's FY11 Budget

[Harbeson, Kristen]

Friends,

 

123 Coalition members - outstanding!  With 14 members, Wisconsin has now taken a commanding lead as the state with the most organizations signed on – but rumors are that there are a few friendly State rivalries that may change that.  Stay tuned!

 

Budget update: As you may have heard, yesterday President Obama released his FY2011 budget, ending the speculation about which programs would fall under the cuts and reductions promised in the State of the Union Address last week.   The news is decidedly mixed for historic preservation.  State and Tribal Historic Preservation Office funding held the line – a victory in a time when virtually every program is considered for the axe – but two major preservation grant programs (Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America), did not escape the chopping block.

 

Next steps: During the next several weeks, Congress will review the budget and hold hearings with Agency officials.  Most likely, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, and the Director of the National Park Service, Jonathan Jarvis, will testify before the House and Senate Interior appropriations subcommittees and the Natural Resource committees.  Members of the Coalition steering committee will be actively working to restore the grant program funding and maintain or boost funding for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices.  Appropriations will be a major focus next month when preservationists from around the country gather for National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week and we will be calling on you for additional help. Stay Tuned for more information on this!

 

About Full Funding:  Obviously, the Coalition continues to work to pull the Historic Preservation Fund out of the appropriations process for permanent, full funding.  As mentioned in the last update, the growing evidence of grassroots support for this initiative has made an impression on key people in Interior and among Congressional staff.  We will continue to look for any and every opportunity to seek full funding for the HPF as either a stand-alone bill or as part of larger bills.  

 

Thank You: To all of those who wrote to your Congressional Members staff thanking them for coming to the Historic Preservation 101 Hill briefing.

 

Thank you, again and always, for your dedication to historic preservation and your support of the Coalition for Full Funding.  Don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance to you.

Thanks!
Kristen

 

 

Join the Coalition for Full Funding of the Historic Preservation Fund..

visit the website at: www.fullyfundhpf.org

 

Kristen Harbeson

State Services Director

National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers

444 N. Capitol St. NW, Suite 342

Washington D.C. 20001

(e) harb...@sso.org

(p) 202 624 5465

(f) 202 634 5419

(w) www.ncshpo.org