ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL New s ■ Se p te m b er 2001 / 833 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley A p p r o p r ia tio n s W hen Congress left fo r th e A ugust recess only five o f th e th irteen a p p ro p riatio n s bills w ere close to finalizatio n. FY2002 fu n d in g bills for Energy, Interior, Legislative Branch, Transpor­ tation, a n d VA/HUD p a sse d b o th th e H ouse an d S enate a n d are rea d y fo r c o n feren ce b e ­ tw een th e tw o b o d ies. A lm ost all o f th em a re set so m ew h at h ig h er th an th e P resid en t’s re ­ quest. It a p p e ars th at P resident B ush is reluc­ tant to c o n sid er th e Labor, HHS, Education a ppropriations bill a n d th e D efense a p p ro ­ priations bill as th e last tw o bills o f th e se s­ sion. T h ere are only 17 to 18 legislative days sc h ed u led befo re O c to b e r 1, th e start o f th e n ew fiscal year. H ints o f co n tin u in g reso lu ­ tions have b e e n floated w ith plans to set fund­ ing at last y e a r’s level fo r h o w e v e r long th e resolutions continue. W hile th at is a reco rd ­ k e e p in g nig h tm are for fed eral agen cies, it w o u ld b e o n e w a y o f c utting fu n d in g w ith­ o u t a recession. A no th er w a y w o u ld b e to pass all th e bills a n d th en red u c e th em all by a p e rcen tag e level to reach b u d g e ta ry com ­ pliance. Since m an y states are suffering from revenue shortfalls, th e pressure will build from states to increase ed u c atio n funding, a big- ticket s tate issue, to cov er th e sho rt falls. L ib r a r y S e rv ic e s a n d T e c h n o lo g y A c t (LSTA) ALA is asking fo r FY2002 fu n d in g to b e in­ cre a se d to $350 m illion, w h ich w o u ld allow states to offer m an y m o re im portant library program s. Library su p p o rters s h o u ld ask Rep­ resentatives a n d Senators to fully f u n d LSTA a n d su p p o rt reau th o rizatio n w h e n it com es u p fo r ren ew al n e x t year. For fu rth er infor­ m atio n ch e ck th e ALA W eb site a t h t tp :// w w w .ala.org/w ashoff/lsta.htm l. D a ta b a s e a n d d is ta n c e e d u c a tio n T he p arties o n b o th sid es o f th e d e b a te over d atab ase p ro tectio n c o n tin u e d to n egotiate into early A ugust u n d e r th e sp o n so rsh ip o f Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Government Relations director o f ALA's Washington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org th e H ouse Judiciary Com mittee an d the H ouse Energy a n d C om m erce Committee. Follow ing a break, discussions are e x p ected to resum e at th e e n d o f August, b u t as for now , n o draft bill h a s em e rg e d . F o r fu rth e r in fo rm a tio n s e e h ttp ://w w w .ala.o rg /w ash o ff/d atab ase.h tm l. A d ista n c e e d u c a tio n bill, S. 487 ( th e TEACH Act) p a sse d th e Senate in Ju n e. T he H o u se h as tak e n u p th e s am e bill, w h ich w as p assed by the H ouse Subcom m ittee o n Courts, th e Internet, a n d Intellectual Property in early July. A lthough th e bill h as n o t y e t b e e n tak e n u p b y t h e full H o u se Judiciary Com m ittee, it is an ticip ated th at t h e com m ittee w ill in d ee d a p p ro v e th e bill after th e A ugust recess a n d will s e n d it o n fo r a v o te o n th e H o u se floor. F o r fu rth e r in fo r m a tio n s e e h t t p : / / w w w . ala.org/w ashoff/disted.htm l. UCITA T w o o f th e n ational legal g ro u p s co n c ern e d w ith UCITA (U niform C om p u ter Inform ation Transaction Act) h ave tak en actions this sum ­ m e r th at offer b o th threats a n d challenges for th e library com m unity a n d o th er UCITA o p ­ p onents. T h e A m erican B ar Association (ABA) es­ tab lish ed a task force to rev iew UCITA fol­ low ing a failed attem p t at th e ABA m eeting in A ugust to p ass a reso lu tio n o p p o sin g the act in its p rese n t form a n d retu rn in g it to NCCUSL fo r e xtensive redrafting. National C onference o f Com m issioners o n U niform State Laws (NCCUSL) is th e ch ief c re a to r o f m odel UCITA legislation. For now , NCCUSL h a s a g re e d to sta n d d o w n from p u r ­ s u in g p assag e o f UCITA, th o u g h o th e r p r o ­ p o n e n ts a re n o t restrained from legislative activity. NCCUSL has scheduled an o p e n m eet­ ing o f its UCITA stan d b y drafting com m ittee fo r Nov. 16-18 a n d has r eq u e sted th at the libraries a n d o th er o p p o n e n ts subm it a m en d ­ m ents. ALA is w orking w ith th e Am erican Associa­ tion o f Law Libraries (AALL) a n d the Associa­ tion o f R esearch Libraries (ARL) to p rep are for this m eeting. For ongoing a n d often changing in f o r m a t io n a b o u t UCITA g o to h t t p : / / w w w .ala.org/w ashoff/ucita/index.htm l. ■ http://www.ala.org/washoff/lsta.html http://www.ala.org/washoff/database.html http://www http://www.ala.org/washoff/ucita/index.html mailto:leb@alawash.org 8 3 4 / C & R L N ew s ■ S e p te m b e r 2001