ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


934 / C&RL News ■ October 2001

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e Mary Costabile

A p p ro p ria tio n s
Little has h appened regarding FY2002 appro­
priations since w e wrote last m onth’s column. 
We continue to expect that the m ain activity 
in Congress this fall will be “vigorous” d e ­
bate over the rem aining federal appropria­
tions bills for FY2002. With constantly chang­
ing budget surplus projections, this is a slow 
and m oving target.

At this writing, about half of the 13 appro­
priations bills are in conference, the rest have 
yet to be w orked on in committee and have 
not gone through House or Senate.

A further complicating factor is the overall 
questionable health of the econom y and the 
disappearing surplus. The president is d e ­
m anding action and reiterating his requests 
to stay within budget. Of the appropriations 
bills that have been  w orked on, most require 
funds that are greater than those requested 
by the president. Pressures from the public 
to increase funding for education and the 
president’s ow n desire to increase funding 
for defense may lead to uneven funding for 
m any areas or overall rescissions (as have 
occurred in past years).

In recent years, some appropriations bills 
that came in at the requested level w ere cut 
further in the “end gam e” to free up funds for 
increases in education. This year, however, 
indications from the White House are that 
the rem aining bills may be cut to make the 
overall spending balance out. The education 
community continues to agitate for larger in­
creases than those in the president’s budget. 
Buttressing the argum ent for increases are 
continuing increases in student populations 
and expected short falls of revenues in states. 
In addition, m uch attention is focused on the 
reauthorization of the Elementary and Sec­
ondary Education Act and whether, if some 
compromised version of that passes, there will 
be enough funds to come close to w hatever 
funding levels are authorized in the bill.

Maty Costabile is Office o f Government Relations assistant 
director o f ALA's Washington Office; e-mail: mcostabile® 
alawash.org

W hen dialogue is put forward about how  
program s like Title I and the Individuals with 
Disabilities Act are not achieving any progress, 
the counter is that neither program  has ever 
been  fully funded.

The en d  g a m e
In past years, education has profited by “end 
gam e” strategy in that so m uch attention is 
focused on  the last rem aining appropriations 
bills that even fiscal conservatives b o w  to 
the general will and increase funds. It could 
be that the continuing resolution strategy, 
w hich usually sets funding at FY2001 levels, 
could be used to capture som e scarce funds, 
i.e., if the appropriations bills w ere not fi­
nalized by O ctober 1, governm ent will be 
c o n tin u e d  by c o n tin u in g  reso lu tio n  w ith 
spending levels set the sam e as the year b e ­
fore. D epending on how  m any w eeks the 
resolution or resolutions last, som e funds 
could be saved.

Also, with several bills remaining, often 
they are lum ped together into an om nibus 
bill, w hich stands m ore of a chance to pass 
because all interests are com bined and the 
w isdom  is to vote for all or nothing. This 
has hazards as well, since am endm ents are 
placed during conference that may be o n er­
ous to som e (like the filtering am endm ent) 
but sw allow ed to get the e n d  result of pas­
sage to com plete the funding for the next 
fiscal year.

N a tio n a l B o o k F e stiv a l a success!
On Septem ber 8, 2001, the National Book 
Festival was held at the Library of Congress 
in W ashington, D.C. This exciting event, d e ­
s c rib e d  o n lin e  at h t tp : // w w w .l o c .g o v /  
bookfest, was hosted by First Lady Laura Bush. 
Bush is a lifelong champion of libraries, books, 
and reading.

Dozens of nationally renow ned authors 
w ere on hand to discuss their w ork. The 
festival’s Web site extends the event’s impact 
far into the future with its many suggestions 
for celebrating books in local public librar­
ies, schools, and families throughout the na­
tion. ■

alawash.org
http://www.loc.gov/