From Preservation Action:
After weeks of negotiations and an additional week long continuing resolution to keep the government open until Dec. 23rd, Congress passed a wide reaching year-end omnibus funding bill. The final bill passed the House and Senate and was signed by President Biden this week. The bill included a 10% increase in defense spending and 5.5% increase in domestic spending.
The bill funds the Historic Preservation Fund at $204.5 million, marking a record level of funding for the program for the 7th consecutive year and a 18% increase over FY22 enacted levels. This includes much needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (S/THPOs). The bill funds SHPOs at $62.15 million, ensuring that no SHPO will receive a funding decrease after reapportionment. THPOs will receive $23 million, a substantial $7 million increase over last year. The final bill also includes funding increases for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grants, African American Civil Rights Grants and HBCU Preservation grants. Check out the full breakdown below:
Historic Preservation Fund FY23 Levels
$62.15 million for State Historic Preservation Offices ($4.475M over FY22)
$23 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices ($7M over FY22)
$26.5 million for Save America's Treasures (same as FY22)
$24 million for the African American Civil Rights grant program ($2.25M over FY22)
$12.5 million for Paul Bruhn grants ($2.5M over FY22)
$11 million for HBCU preservation grants ($1M over FY22)
$10 million for the Semiquincentennial grant program (same as FY22)
$5 million for the History of Equal Rights Grant program ($375,000 over FY22)
$1.25 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants (same as FY22)
$29.115 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for HPF Projects ($13.843M over FY22)
Total: $204.515 million ($31.443 million over FY22)
Preservation Action submitted testimony in support of $200 million for the HPF in March. Earlier this month, we also joined several of our preservation partners on a letter urging support for $191 million for the HPF. Thank you our many congressional champions for their critical support of HPF funding, especially the outgoing Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who is retiring this year and has been one of historic preservation's biggest supporters.
The record funding we've seen for the HPF would not have been possible without you reaching out to your members of Congress and making our voice heard! Thank you for your continued advocacy!
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author and not necessarily the opinion of the editors of PreservationDirectory.com.
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