PRESERVATION ACTION LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
 



LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
VOLUME 21, NUMBER 15
MAY 18, 2018

House Appropriations Committee Releases FY19 Interior Subcommittee Draft, Bill Advances to Full Committee

This week, the House Appropriations Committee released the fiscal year 2019 Interior and Environment subcommittee draft bill. The bill funds the Historic Preservation Fund at $91.91 million, just slightly below levels included in the FY18 Omnibus bill and above the amount requested in the FY19 House HPF Dear Colleague Letter.
  • SHPOs & THPOs: $60.41 million
  • Save America's Treasures grants: $13 million
  • Civil Rights grants: $13 million
  • HBCU preservation grants: $5 million
  • Underrepresented Communities grants: $500,000
During the hearing members praised some of the funding levels included in the bill, including increased funding to address the deferred maintenance backlog at the National Park Service and support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The subcommittee's Ranking Member, Betty McCollum (D-MN) spoke in support of the Historic Preservation Fund during her opening remarks. However, democrats on the subcommittee objected to policy riders and the level of funding included for the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill was favorably reported to full committee and the full committee markup is scheduled for May 22nd. You can watch the complete hearing below.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Holds Hearing to Consider Aimee Jorjani as Full Time Chair of the ACHP
 
Aimee Jorjani alongside her family at the May 15th hearing.
This week the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to consider Aimee Jorjani as chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation for the remainder of a four-year term expiring on June 10, 2021. Ms. Jorjani was nominated by President Trump in March. 
If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Jorjani would become the first full time chair of the ACHP since an amendment was approved in 2016 to the National Historic Preservation Act, converting the part-time Chair to a full-time position. Ms. Jorjani would replace current ACHP Chairman Milford Wayne Donaldson FAIA, who has served for two terms.

During the hearing, Ms. Jorjani spoke about her interest and fascination with historic preservation starting at early age. She spoke about the historic buildings in her hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"While many of those buildings sat underutilized in my youth, I always saw beauty in them. Many of those buildings have since been restored or re-adapted through historic preservation and incentives, spurring economic development and keeping history alive."

Ms. Jorjani has a strong background in historic preservation. She held several positions at the Department of the Interior (DOI), including serving as the Deputy Secretary's Special Assistant for Historic Preservation and as DOI's first Department-wide Historic Preservation Officer, she also has a masters in historic preservation from Goucher College. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote on the nomination. If Jorjani's nomination is cleared by the committee, it will then go before the full Senate for consideration.
Celebrate National Historic Preservation Month
  
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) tours the Coffelt-Lamareoux housing project in Phoenix, AZ
May is
National Historic Preservation Month! Tours, special programs and events celebrating all things preservation, will be happening across the country throughout May. Let us know what your city or state is doing to celebrate Preservation Month!
 
Preservation Month Site Visits
 
National Historic Preservation Month is a great time to reach out to your members of Congress and their staff, and invite them to tour a historic tax credit project or join a Preservation Month event. Preservation Action is working to leverage Preservation Month as a great opportunity for members of Congress to visit historic tax credit projects and other historic sites in their district/state. The co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Representatives  Mike Turner (R-OH) and  Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), along with Preservation Action, sent a  letter to House members recognizing Preservation Month and encouraging site visits while in district. The House and Senate will be on an in-district period May 28 - June 1,  July 2-6 and the month of August. One thing we heard time and time again from congressional staff during Advocacy Week was site visits help to show members of Congress the tangible impact of programs like the Historic Tax Credit and Historic Preservation Fund.

Preservation Action will host an Preservation Month Hill briefing on May 21st to educate staff on the historic preservation program and encourage members of Congress and their staff to celebrate Preservation Month.
 
Contact Rob Naylor with Preservation Action at  rnaylor@preservationaction.org if you need assistance facilitating a site visit. Be sure to share stories and photos from your site visits with us on  Facebook and  Twitter!

Preservation Action
1307 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
p. 202-463-0970  f. 202-463-1299


Preservation Action is the only national  non-profit dedicated exclusively to lobbying for the best preservation policies at the federal level. We seek to make historic preservation a national priority by advocating to all branches of government through a grassroots constituency empowered with information and training.