Senate Passes Legislation to Fully Fund the LWCF and Address the Maintenance Backlog on Public Lands
Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon National Park
This week the Senate passed the Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422, H.R 7092) by a 73-25 vote. This important bill fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million annually and provides dedicated funding to address the deferred maintenance backlog at the National Park Service and on other public lands. The Great American Outdoors Act now moves to the House, where identical legislation was introduced by Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC), Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) and 10 other bipartisan members of Congress. The House could take up the bill as soon as early July. President Trump, who announced his support in March, is expected to sign the legislation.
The Great American Outdoors Act would not only support continued public access and enjoyment of our nation's public lands, but also help support and protect cultural and historic sites across the country. The LWCF has been used to preserve battlefields like Gettysburg National Military Park and iconic sites like the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. The bill also addresses the nearly $12 billion backlog at the National Park Service, an estimated 43% is attributed to historic resources. Preservation Action included this important bill in our request to Congress to support historic preservation priorities in future stimulus legislation.
Take Action
Help us get this bill across the finish line. Urge your Representative to vote YES on the Great American Outdoors Act! Check out our sample letter and reach out to your Rep. today! Be sure to select Public Lands and Natural Resources as the subject. Do you have a personal contact in your Representative's office? Reach out to them directly. You can also use the tool from our partners at the National Trust for Historic Preservation below.
Congress Expected to Begin Markups of FY2021 Appropriations Bills
After delays due to the pandemic and shortened congressional schedules, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are planning to markup their FY2021 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill in the next few weeks. The Interior Appropriations bill funds several preservation priorities, including the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF).
The HPF received record funding levels for the last 3 years, including $118.6 million in FY2020. This year, as budget caps have already been set by a two year budget agreement, we expect funding levels to be similar to last year. Right now it looks like the House is expected hold their markup the week of July 6th, setting up a vote for the end of July. While the Senate schedule faces less certainty due a disagreement on policy riders that threatens to delay their markup.
Preservation Action is advocating for full funding for the Historic Preservation Fund at $150 million, including the following funding levels:
State Historic Preservation Offices: $61 million
Tribal Historic Preservation Offices: $22 million
African-American Civil Rights Movement Grants: $20 million
Civil Rights Grants for All Americans: $8 million
Historically Black Colleges and Universities: $10 million
Survey Grants for Underrepresented Communities: $1 million
Save America's Treasures Grants: $18 million
Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants: $10 million
Now is the perfect time to remind your members of Congress about the importance of the Historic Preservation Fund. If you have a contact in your Senators or Representative's office, reach out to them directly and send them our HPF Request 1 Pager. Check out our Learn to Lobby Guide and our Lobby From Home Guide to learn more about how you can take action.
Action Alert: Urge Congress to Support Historic Preservation Easements
Hotel Trundle/Powell Furniture Store in Columbia, SC used Historic Preservation Easements. Photo Credit: GBX Group
We need your help in urging your members of Congress to work with the IRS and other agencies to end the unfair targeting of historic preservation easements.
The Federal Historic Preservation Easement program is a tax incentive that promotes the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings by allowing deductions for charitable contribution of historic preservation easements. Unfortunately this important program has been been undercut by an aggressive IRS campaign aimed at ending abusive conservation easement transactions. The campaign has resulted in denying nearly all conservation and historic easement deductions and thus deterring investments in historic preservation. The impact of this campaign on the historic preservation community is amplified as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely impact historic rehabilitation projects.
We're asking Congress to work with the IRS, Treasury, the White House Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and other agencies across the Administration on the following initiatives:
Exempt Historic Preservation Easements from the IRS enforcement campaign.
Provide clear regulations for historic property owners seeking to utilize this important program.
Reach out your members of Congress today! Preservation Action along with our partners at GBX Group have put together a sample letter you can use to write your members of Congress and urge them to work with the IRS to support historic preservation easements. Check out our Action Alert to learn more!
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.
