Urge Your Representative to Sign-on to the Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter
Congress is kicking off the appropriations process which will determine Fiscal Year 2023 funding levels for historic preservation and we need your help! The co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), are leading the bipartisan FY23 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Dear Colleague Letter in the House. The letter request $200 million in funding for the HPF, 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
Reach out to your Representative and urge them to sign-on to the bipartisan FY2023 Historic Preservation Fund dear colleague letter being circulated by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH). The more support we can demonstrate for the HPF, the better positioned it will be in the upcoming appropriations process.
If you have a personal contact in your Representative's office, contact that person directly, especially if you just met with their office during Advocacy Week, 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 Representative today! Also be sure to share this alert with your networks. The deadline for signatures is April 22nd.Take action today!
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Bill Passes Senate
This week the U.S Senate unanimously passed the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Expansion Act (S. 270, H.R. 920). This important bill, led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) in the Senate and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) in the House would expand the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site to include additional sites in South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, Kansas and the District of Columbia that contributed to the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka. Also this week, bipartisan, companion legislation in the House unanimously passed the Committee on Natural Resources, setting it up for consideration by the full House and sending it to the President's desk.
The Brown v. Board of Education decision is most associated with the case from Kansas, but was actually the compilation of 5 important court cases. By recognizing the communities and sites associated with these cases, we help to tell a more complete story of the landmark decision that ordered desegregation of American schools.
This bill would establish National Park Service Affiliated Areas in Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia and expand the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site to include two historic sites in Summerton, S.C, the Summerton School and the Scott's Branch School.
Preservation Action fully supports this bill and thanks the Senate for taking action. Learn more and urge your Representative to support this important legislation.
State Historic Tax Credit News in West Virginia and Arizona
West Virginia
West Virginia's Governor, Jim Justice, signed legislation into law this week that would expand and improve West Virginia's 25% historic tax credit. H.B 4568 eliminates the $30 million annual statewide cap and the $10 million per transaction cap on the program. The bill would also allow for the credit to be taken in phases and allow for the recapture of HTCs. The legislation will go into effect starting July 1st. This is great news for historic preservation in West Virginia! Check out the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia to learn more!
Arizona
Legislation was introduced in the Arizona Legislature that would establish a 20% tax credit for qualified rehabilitation expenses. H.B. 2760 would cap the program at $15 million annually and includes a requirement that 60% of the first round of funding each year be issued to cities with less than 150,000 people. If passed the bill would go into effect Jan. 1, 2023 and would sunset at the end of 2032. Arizona is currently one of 11 states without a state historic tax credit program.
Vote for Preservation Action's Hero of the Year!
Did you cast your vote yet for our 2021 Preservation Action Hero of the Year!? In 2021, we showcased four stellar preservation professionals from across the country who are making positive impacts in their local communities and beyond. Check out our website learn more about the great work all of our Heroes are doing and cast your vote TODAY!
Preservation Action launched this program in 2019 to recognize preservation professionals from across the country who are doing amazing work. We were very pleased to honor Joyce Barrett, Executive Director of Heritage Ohio as our 2019 Hero of the Year and Fairleigh Jackson, Executive Director of Preserve Louisiana as our 2020 Hero of the Year. Our 2021 Hero of the Year will be recognized during National Historic Preservation Month in May. Voting closes on Friday, April 15, 2022. Congratulations to this year's Heroes!
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.
