ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 98 / C&RL News Washington Hotline Lynne E. Bradley W here are libraries on the n ew legislative roadm ap? N ew members o f the 104th Congress may still be using roadmaps to find their way around Washington, but they hardly n eed a legislative roadmap; the Republican “ Contract w ith Am erica” shows them the way. N ew Speaker o f the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) is pushing for immediate change within the first 100 days. The House held a lengthy session on January 4, its first day, and immediately the path was set to imple ment the Contract. Many programs will be cu to pay for a balanced budget, tax cuts, and in creased defense spending. Entire cabinet agen cies, including the Department o f Education are potential victims o f the budget-cutting axe Where libraries appear on this legislativ roadmap is not yet clear. A positive sign is tha Speaker Gingrich and several o f his allies spea supportively about libraries and the new infor mation technologies. On his second full day a Speaker, Gingrich spoke at the kickoff o f TH O MAS (see sidebar) at the Library o f Congres (LC). There Gingrich emphasized the impor tance o f this new legislative information ser vice and predicted a dramatic increase in “in tellectual populism” as legislative informatio becomes more available to citizens. LC unveils THOMAS THOMAS is the new Library o f Congress (LC) online public access system o f congres­ sional information available via the Internet to American citizens. LC announced that, by the end o f January, THOMAS would provide access to the full text o f bills from the 103rd and 104th Congresses, and the directory, cal­ endar, and floor schedules for the House o f Representatives. Soon the LC will, through its Congressional Research Service’s Bill Service, summarize and track bills for the Congress. This will ultimately include the full text o f bills to enable Americans to search more eas­ ily for legislation. ­ t ­ ­ , . e t k ­ s ­ s ­ ­ ­ n Building on the concept that k n o w le d g e equals power, Gingrich added that the new technologies will allow a virtual electronic town hall meeting on a scale that will create in the elec­ tronic age a truly democratic dialogue. He even said that, amidst all the anticipated budget cuts, the LC should not be cut, but have an in­ creased budget. But from another point of view, library and higher edu­ cation programs are vulnerable in this sea change. The Republicans, Democrats, and the Clinton Administration are all putting forth pro­ posals involving middle class tax cuts that will bring substantial cuts in federal programs. In the Senate, Republicans are expected to cut and consolidate many programs. An early rescission (cutting FY95 funds already appro­ priated if funds are not yet spent) and budget reconciliation package (identifying cuts to make in FY96) is expected shortly. House minority leader Richard Gephardt (D- M O) has also proposed a middle class tax cut, paid for with unspecified cuts and savings. Presi­ dent Clinton has revived his own middle class tax cut proposal, to be paid for with major agency cuts, continued budget caps on discre­ tio n a ry s p en d in g, co n s o lid a tio n s , and privatization. Although the Department o f Edu­ cation is not a major target, a significant por­ tion o f “other” cuts will be proposed. On the (budget) cutting e d g e All library programs and many related programs from which libraries benefit will end up on the proposed cut lists. The programs listed below are at risk because they are listed on background documents to the House Republican “Contract with America,” or because they are on the cut list developed earlier in 1994 by a Balanced Budget Task Force chaired by Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-NY). The Solomon list is consid­ ered to be one o f the sources for a Republican budget rescission and reconciliation package. • Library Services and Construction Act; Lynne E. Bradley is deputy executive director o f ALA’s Washington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org mailto:leb@alawash.org February 1995/99 • Higher Education Act title II library pro­ grams (FY96 funding in danger; FY95 rescis­ sions could be proposed for LSCA VI and HEA II-B programs); • School Libraiy Media Resources program, ESEA III, part F (in danger as the overall agenda will make funding new programs very difficult); • Aits and humanities endowments (must be reauthorized, either separately or as part o f appropriations process, in order to be funded; thus NEA and NEH will be early targets for budget cutting and for those politicians who are opposed to any government role in sup­ port o f the arts and humanities); • High Performance Computing and Com­ munications initiative (identified with Clinton/ Gore Administration, and considered to be in­ dustrial policy); • Improving America’s Schools Act, ESEA reauthorization (Title III ed tech programs, school block grant, aid to disadvantaged school­ children, many other new and renewed pro­ grams are at risk); • National libraries and related programs (budget cuts are likely to affect the Library o f Congress, the National Agricultural Library, the National Library o f Medicine, the National Ar­ chives, the Depository Library Program and GPO Access Act, and the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science). In short, the entire federal role in support o f all kinds o f libraries and information ser­ vices could be severely damaged or wiped out in a rush to cut and eliminate government pro­ grams and services and downsize government. In a new “devolution” movement, some fed­ eral roles could be shifted to the states. H ow­ ever, governors have already expressed con­ cern that they do not have the resources, nor are they likely to receive the resources from the federal level, to take on all these roles. W hat can be done? In higher education, every opportunity to share the college and research library message with your Congressional representatives and sena­ tors should be used. N ew and returning mem­ bers need to be educated about the value o f federal investment in library programs and re­ lated higher education efforts. Library programs are certainly at the top o f the list when it comes to reaching the largest population for the least expenditure o f federal dollars. N ow is the time to speak, write, and com­ municate the library success story to those who have the power to continue or eliminate library programs. Please continue to share informa­ tion received from your congressional contacts with the ALA Washington Office. It will most certainly be an interesting year.