From Preservation Action:

This week the House passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024 that includes six appropriations bills, partially funding the government through September. This included appropriations for the Department of Interior, which funds the Historic Preservation Fund and several preservation priorities. The bill passed with bipartisan support, 339-85. The bill now moves to the Senate where they will need to pass the bill by Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. An FY24 bill funding the rest of the government is expected to be released soon, as funding for the remaining departments lasts through March 22nd.

The FY24 partial spending bill includes $188.66 million for the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), nearly $16 million below FY23 enacted levels. The bill maintains level funding for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, but reduces funding for some grant programs and Community Directed Spending for HPF projects. A full breakdown of the HPF is below:

Historic Preservation Fund FY24 Levels

$62.15 million for State Historic Preservation Offices (same as FY23)
$23 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (same as FY23)
$25.5 million for Save America's Treasures ($1M below FY23)
$24 million for the African American Civil Rights grant program (same as FY23)
$10 million for Paul Bruhn grants ($2.5M below FY23)
$11 million for HBCU preservation grants (same as FY23)
$7 million for the Semiquincentennial grant program ($3M below FY23)
$5 million for the History of Equal Rights Grant program (same as FY23)
$1.25 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants (same as FY23)
$19.76 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for HPF Projects ($9.349M below FY23)

Total: $188.66 million ($15.849 million below FY23)

More details on the funding levels in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, including a breakdown of Congressionally Directed Spending for HPF projects are available here. While we recognize the challenging budget, we are disappointed in the cuts to the HPF. Programs like the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization program are helping to create economic development in rural communities by rehabilitating and preserving irreplaceable historic assets.

We were very pleased to see that the bill did include a provision reauthorizing the HPF through the end of September. A short term authorization was a key priority for preservation advocates and ensures continued deposits into the HPF. While Preservation Action greatly appreciates the temporary reauthorization of the HPF, we continue to urge Congress to pass a longer term solution, like the Historic Preservation Fund Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3350). This bill would reauthorize the HPF for 10 years and increase the annual authorized amount from $150 million to $250 million. Take action by urging your member of Congress to support and cosponsor H.R. 3350 TODAY!

Take Action: https://preservationaction.org/reauthorize-hpf