by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National
Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History
<pagem@CapAccess.org>
1. Jeffords Introduces NEH Reauthorization Bill
1. Jeffords Introduces S. 856, NEH Reauthroization Bill --
On May 25 Senator James Jeffords (R-VT) introduced S. 856, a bill
to amend the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
Act of 1965, the Museum Services Act, and the Acts and Artifacts
Indemnity Act to improve and extend the Acts. Although
introduced prior to the Memorial Day recess, it took almost a
week for the 183 page bill to be printed and made available to
the public. Single copies of S.856 may be obtained by faxing a
request to the Senate Documents Room at (202) 228- 2815.
Attempts to pass reauthorization legislation for NEH failed in
the 103rd Congress; however, NEH was funded in FY'94 and FY'95
without authorization. Leadership in the new Congress has stated
that they will allow appropriations only if NEH is reauthorized .
Without reauthorization, NEH could on September 30 cease to
exist. Thus supporters of NEH had been awaiting with
considerable interest the introduction of a reauthorization bill
in the Senate.
Senator Jeffords introduced S.856 for himself and for Senators
Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Claiborne Pell (D-
RI), Alan Simpson (R-WY), and Christopher Dodd (D-CT). Compared
to Representative Bill Goodling's (R-PA) bill, H.R 1557, which
calls for a three year phase out of the endowments, Jefford's
bill is extremely positive, affirming a federal role for the
support of the arts and humanities.
S.856 does make a number of significant changes. It merges some
of the administrative functions of the NEA and NEH, such as a
single office for the Inspector General, and places a 12 percent
cap on administrative costs. The bill also streamlines
membership on the National Council on the Humanities, reducing
the number of members from 26 to 20. S. 856 calls for a
restructuring of both NEA and NEH.
In the restructuring of NEH, there would be three grant
programs
--partnership grants to the states,
--national significance grants to support groups and individuals
for programs in education and public humanities that have a
national audience,
--and research and scholarship grants for individuals and groups
to encourage the development and dissemination of significant
scholarship in the humanities.
The bill specifies that 25 percent of NEH funds will go for
state/federal partnerships, 37.5 percent for grants of national
significance and 37.5 percent for research and scholarship
grants. The bill states that special consideration should be
given in the awarding of grants for research and scholarship to
"scholars, and educational and cultural institutions, that
traditionally have been underrepresented." The allocation formula
developed in this bill reflects fairly closely current
expenditures -- with increases for the state programs, up from 20
percent to 25 percent of the total budget, with an increase in
research and scholarship grants, and with some decrease for
grants in the category of national significance to support
programs in education and public humanities.
One major change in the bill is the inclusion of specific
language that calls for matching dollars for every category of
grant. For most grants, the bill requires that grants be matched
dollar for dollar, that is with only 50 percent funding coming
from NEH. This language suggests that matching funds would be
required for all research and scholarship grants, including
fellowships. This is a point, however, that many feel needs
modification. While most of the grants in the national
significance category would provide 50 percent of the funds
required for a project, the bill specifies that NEH would provide
only 25 percent of funds for grants that have traditionally been
called "challenge grants," which provide long term institutional
support and may be used for construction, renovation, and
purchase of equipment. The state programs now match the amounts
received from NEH; thus, the requirement of matching dollars
reflects current practice.
One of the key components of authorization bills is the setting
of ceilings for appropriations. This bill provides a reduction
of about 2 percent each year for the next five years.
Anticipated funding for this year after a possible $5 million
recision is $172 million. The ceiling specified in S. 856 for
FY'96 is $168.5 million, with $165.1 million in FY'97, $161.8
million in 1998, $158.6 million in 1999, and $155.4 million in
2000.
S.856 also consolidates the Institute of Museum Services and the
Library Services Act and amends the arts and artifacts indemnity
act.
S. 856 was basically developed by Senator Jeffords, who chairs
the Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities of the Senate
Labor and Human Resources Committee. The bill will be considered
by the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, chaired by
Senator Kassebaum, in approximately ten days or two weeks. There
will undoubtedly be some changes and refinement of the bill at
the mark-up, when members decide on the final version to
recommend to the Senate for a vote.
The professional historical associations are encouraging their
members to contact their Senators and urge them to be co-sponsors
of S.856, noting that
all Senators should be contacted at this time,
especially members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources
Committee: Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS); James Jeffords (R-VT); Dan
Coats (R-IN); Spencer Abraham (R-MI); Judd Gregg (R-NH); Bill
Frist (R-TN); Mike DeWine (R-OH); John Ashcroft (R-MO); Slade
Gorton (R-WA); Claiborne Pell (D-RI); Edward Kennedy (D-MA);
Christopher Dodd (D-CT); Tom Harkin (D-IA); Paul Simon (D-IL);
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD); and Paul Wellstone (D-MN). Addresses:
U.S. Senate Washington D.C. 20510. The Capitol Switchboard that
can connect you to any Senator's office is (202) 224-3121.
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