Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY19 Interior Appropriations Bill With Bipartisan Support
This week the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY19 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill by unanimous consent, sending the bill to the full Senate. This marks the first time since 2010 that Interior appropriations bill passed the committee with unanimous consent. The bill funds the Historic Preservation Fund at $88.91 million, $8 million below last year's historic levels of funding, but significantly above the Trump Administration's request. The full breakdown of HPF funding is below.
SHPOs: $48.925M, equal to FY18 levels THPOs: $11.485M, equal to FY18 levels Civil Rights grants: $13M, equal to FY18 levels HBCU Grant Program: $5M, equal to FY18 levels
National, State and Local Significance grants: $5M, equal to FY18 levels.
SAT grants: $5M, $8M below FY18 levels
Underrepresented Communities Grants: $500k, equal to FY18 levels
The House Interior Appropriations Bill that passed committee last week includes $91.91 million for the HPF, maintaining FY18's level of $13 million for the Save America's Treasures program, but eliminating funding for the National, State and Local significance grant program. Both bills will now be considered by the full House and full Senate. Preservation Action advocated for target increases to the Historic Preservation Fund during National Preservation Advocacy Week and joined partner organizations in submitting letters to appropriators in support of the Historic Preservation Fund. We thank the committee members for largely rejecting the cuts proposed by the Administration that would have had a devastating impact on historic preservation across the country.
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