Preservation Action Legislative Update
Legislative Update
Volume 25. Number 16
May 20, 2022
1. URGE SENATORS TO SUPPORT HPF
2. DIRECTOR SAMS TESTIFIES IN HOUSE
3. APPLY FOR $1.25M IN HPF GRANTS
4. STORIES FROM AROUND THE STATES
Last Chance: Urge Your Senators to Sign-on for Increased Historic Preservation Funding
Time is running out to urge your Senators to sign-on to the FY23 Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter. The deadline for signatures is COB Monday, May 23rd. Appropriators are determining funding levels for historic preservation. We need to demonstrate strong support for the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are leading the bipartisan letter, which like the House letter, requests $200 million in funding for the HPF. This is the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week and would be a record level of funding for the program. The request includes much-needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, which are expected to face increased workloads from federally mandated project reviews associated with the recently passed infrastructure bill, and increases to critically important competitive grant programs. The letter requests:

  • $65 million for State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs)
  • $34 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs)
  • $35 million for the Save America’s Treasures Grant Program
  • $24 million for African American Civil Rights Initiative Competitive Grants
  • $12 million for competitive grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities
  • $12 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants
  • $10 million for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program
  • $5 million for the History of Equal Rights Competitive Grant Program
  • $3 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants

Total: $200 million.


More than 100 bipartisan Representatives signed on to the House version of the letter, which also requested $200 million for the HPF and was sent to appropriators last month.

Take Action!

Reach out to your Senators and urge them to sign-on to the bipartisan FY2023 Historic Preservation Fund dear colleague letter being circulated by Senators Gillibrand and Cassidy. The more support we can demonstrate for the HPF, the better positioned it will be in the appropriations process.

If you have a personal contact in your Senator's office, contact that person directly and urge them to sign-on to the HPF dear colleague letter. If they do not handle Interior Appropriations please ask that they pass the message along to the Interior Appropriations staffer. Preservation Action has also made it easy for you take action. Check out our action campaign to easily edit and send a letter to your Senators today! Also be sure to share this alert with your networks. 

Time is running out, the deadline for signatures is COB, Monday, May 23rd. Take action today!
Director Sams Testifies on National Park Service Budget
This week, the Director of the National Park Service, Charles Sams, testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies on the Biden Administration's proposed budget for the National Park Service. This marks an important step in the FY23 appropriations process, which will help determine funding levels for several preservation priorities, including the Historic Preservation Fund.

During his opening remarks, Director Sams highlighted the administration's goals to expand capacity at more than 30 National Parks that preserve and tell the story of historically underrepresented and marginalized communities. He also noted the budget's $7 million increase for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices over FY22 enacted levels to $23 million. During the hearing, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) spoke about the important work of THPOs and the need to adequately fund them.

Preservation Action is urging Congress to support $200 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, including much-need increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and continued support for critical competitive grant programs. Stay tuned for more as the appropriations process continues.
National Park Service Now Accepting Applications for Underrepresented Communities Grants
The National Park Service is currently accepting applications for $1.25 million in funding for the Underrepresented Communities Grant Program. This program aims to diversify the National Register of Historic Places by supporting the survey, inventory, or nomination of new sites or amending of previous listings to the National Register or as a National Historic Landmark, that help tell the stories of communities that are currently underrepresented. The grant program was established in 2016 and is funded through the Historic Preservation Fund. Since inception, the Underrepresented Communities Grant Program has awarded nearly $3 million in grants to help diversify nominations to the National Register.

Less than 8% of sites on the National Register are associated with African American, American Latino, Asian American, American Indian, and other minority communities. This important grant program is helping to change that. In FY23 Preservation Action is urging Congress to fund the Underrepresented Communities grant program at $3 million annually.

Applications are due August 10, 2022. Learn more and apply today!
National News
Stories From Around the States
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.