From Preservation Action:

This week President Biden released his administration's FY25 budget request, laying out their priorities for the year ahead. The request isn't binding, but can serve as a marker to kick-off debates on spending levels. This includes specific funding requests for the Department of Interior and the National Park Service. Overall the budget requests $3.58 billion for the National Park Service, an increase of $101 million over FY24 enacted levels. The request includes $151.4 million for the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). This is a $37.16 million decrease from the FY24 enacted levels of $188.66 million, which was already a nearly $16 million decrease over FY23 levels. The decrease is largely due to the budget not including Congressionally Directed Spending for HPF projects, a $15.5 million cut to the Save America's Treasures program, and not funding the Semiquincentennial grant program. Notably, the budget requested an additional $2.5 million for Tribal Heritage Grants, which was also included in the President's FY24 request. A full breakdown of the HPF is below:

FY25 Administration Request: Historic Preservation Fund

$62.15 million for State Historic Preservation Offices (same as FY24)
$23 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (same as FY24)
$2.5 million for Tribal Heritage Grants *new*
$10 million for Save America's Treasures ($15.5M below FY24)
$24 million for the African American Civil Rights grant program (same as FY24)
$12.5 million for Paul Bruhn grants ($2.5M over FY24)
$11 million for HBCU preservation grants (same as FY24)
$5 million for the History of Equal Rights Grants (same as FY24)
$1.25 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants (same as FY24)
Congressionally Directed Spending for HPF Projects- Not Included ($19.766M below FY24)
Semiquincentennial grant program- not included ($7M below FY24)


Total: $151.4 million ($37.16 million below FY24)

Additionally, the budget included $3 million for the African American Burial Ground Preservation program, which will help identify, document, preserve, research, and interpret African American Burial Ground sites whose protection and documentation has too often been neglected or forgotten.
Also included in the request was $18.09 million for the Heritage Partnership Program, which supports National Heritage Areas, $11.167 million below FY24 enacted levels.

We were very pleased to see the budget request include a 2 year authorization for the Historic Preservation Fund, which would authorize the program through September 30, 2026. The FY24 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which just passed Congress and was signed into law last week, reauthorized the HPF through September of this year. We continue to advocate for a longer term authorization of the HPF to provide more certainty and stability for the program.

While the President's budget was limited by strict spending caps included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, we are disappointed by the significant cuts to the HPF included in the request. During Historic Preservation Advocacy Week, attendees advocated for $225 million for the Historic Preservation Fund. This is the same amount Preservation Action will include in our testimony to House and Senate appropriators. Check out our HPF Appropriations one-pager to learn more.