Date:  Wed, 9 Aug 1995 12:11:41 -0400

From:  Allan Metcalf <AAllan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>

Subject: NEH funding update



Once again, for those interested in prospects for funding the National

Endowment for the Humanities, a report from our Washington contact, the

National Humanities Alliance. - Allan Metcalf



*********************************



8 August 1995



TO: NHA Members & Friends

FR: John Hammer

RE: NEH and other Cultural Agencies in FY-96 Interior

 Appropriation will go to Senate floor before August break

__________________________________________________________________



In July, the Senate Appropriations Committee decided on a FY-96

budget that provides the following for NEH and its sister

agencies:



 NEH $114.5 million

 NEA    99.5 million

 IMS    21.0 million



NEH is $15 million higher than the House-passed bill. Senate

allotments for NEA and IMS are the same as the House bill. NEH

and NEA are about 40% below their current funding levels (but

above the Senate Budget Committee recommendation of a 50% cut);

IMS is about 25% lower.



TIMING: The Senate Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations

Bill (H.R. 1977) in which the cultural agency budgets reside, may

go to the floor anytime between August 8 and the recess. Earlier,

Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-KS) said the Senate would recess on

August 9 and did not include Interior on the list of bills to be

completed. Yesterday, Mr. Dole said that Interior would go to the

floor before recess, even if that did not begin until August 17.

The Senate is presently engaged in welfare reform, which could

take several days or could be pulled until a clearer consensus can

be developed behind the scenes. Individuals wishing to contact

senators on the NEH issue can:



 (a) telephone Washington offices [all can be reached through

 the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121], and

 (b) telephone in-state offices for messages and/or to

 arrange meetings.



AMENDMENTS: Several amendments involving the cultural agencies

are floating around. All amendments involving funding increases

must indicate an offset of an equal amount from another item in

the Interior budget. There is only one amendment that we are

quite certain will be offered (but we are not sure who the

sponsors will be):



 o Patrick Leahy [D-VT] (with at least one co-sponsor from

among Robert Bennett [R-UT], Dale Bumpers [D-AR], and James

Jeffords [R-VT]) to bring both NEH and NEA to $120 million and

increase IMS by perhaps $2 million. The offset may come from the

Naval Petroleum Reserve. This amendment (minus IMS) only failed

by one vote in the full Appropriations Committee. Bipartisan

sponsorship would seem to have the best prospects.



 o Other more ambitious amendments (e.g., to bring all three

agencies to 15% below current budgets -- 15% being the reduction

in the overall allotment to the Interior subcommittee). The

problem these amendments face is finding an offset which is large

enough but not strongly defended.



MESSAGE: Senators should be urged to:



 (a) Support the Appropriation Committee numbers; and

 (b) Support amendments that would increase appropriations to

 these agencies; but

 (c) Defeat amendments that would seek to decrease funding or

 further restrict the agencies' ability to operate.



KEY TARGETS:



A - Swing votes (Highest priority): Conrad Burns (R-MT), Hank

Brown (R-CO), Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Robert

Dole (R-KS), J. James Exon (D-NE), Bill Frist (R-TN), Bob Graham

(D-FL), Rod Grams (R-MN), Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), Judd Gregg

(R-NH), Mark Hatfield (R-OR), Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC), Daniel K.

Inouye (D-HI), J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA), J. Robert Kerrey

(D-NE), Richard G. Lugar (R-IN), Connie Mack (R-FL), John McCain

(R-AZ), Frank H. Murkowski (R-AK), Sam Nunn (D-GA), Richard Shelby

(R-AL), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Strom Thurmond (R-SC), and John W.

Warner (R-VA).



B - Likely to support NEH et al (Good to reinforce): Max Baucus

(D-MT), Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), Richard Bryan (D-NV), Kent

Conrad (D-ND), Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Pete

Domenici (R-NM), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Howell

Heflin (D-AL), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), Nancy Kassebaum

(R-KS), Herbert H. Kohl (D-WI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Patty Murray

(D-WA), Bob Packwood (R-OR), David Pryor (D-AR), Harry Reid

(D-NV), Olympia Snowe (R-ME).



C - Signers of the 7/10/95 Simpson/Dodd letter calling upon

Senator Gorton "to recommend the highest possible levels of

funding for the [NEA, NEH, and IMS]": Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Robert

Bennett (R-UT), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Barbara Boxer (D-CA),

Bill Bradley (D-NJ), John Breaux (D-LA), Dale Bumpers (D-AR),

Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), John Chafee (R-RI), William S. Cohen

(R-ME), Thomas Daschle (D-SD), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Dianne

Feinstein (D-CA), Wendell Ford (D-KY), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Orrin

Hatch (R-UT), Jim Jeffords (R-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John

Kerry (D-MA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joseph

Lieberman (D-CT), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Carol Moseley Braun

(D-IL), Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), Claiborne Pell (D-RI),

Charles Robb (D-VA), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), William Roth (R-DE),

Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Paul Simon (D-IL), Alan Simpson (R-WY),

Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Paul Wellstone (D-MN).

--

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