Action Alert: NHPRC 2007 Funding in Jeopardy; You Can Help Restore It! March 22, 2006 - In February the National Historical Publications and Records Commission was again "zeroed out" in the President's proposed budget for FY 2007. No money at all for grants, no money for the administration of NHPRC. The Society of American Archivists (SAA), the Council of State Archivists (CoSA), and the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA) have discussed how to address this latest development - and how to address it while moving forward on a national initiative for formula-based funding directed to states (what we have been calling the "national initiative" and have now given the more formal name of the "Partnership for the American Historical Record," or PAHR.) Based on our discussions, the three organizations have agreed that we will ask for funding to both support the full national competitive grants program and provide funds to initiate PAHR. We are, therefore, advocating a new funding level for NHPRC of $20 million. (See "A Joint Statement on 2007 Funding Levels for NHPRC," http://savearchives.pbwiki.com/Joint%20Statement) We are asking you to assist with the latter by writing letters, passing resolutions of support, and visiting with your Senators and House members to ask for their support. We also ask that you spread the word by identifying and working with additional groups and individuals who can help in this advocacy effort. In the past few weeks we have gathered information and developed materials to use in reaching out to members of Congress. While it is beneficial to send letters to your representatives, particular effort must be made in those states whose members of Congress are on the key committees and subcommittees dealing with appropriations: the House and Senate Appropriations committees and the House and Senate subcommittees on Treasury, Transportation, HUD and Related Agencies (T-THUD). Your letters will have the most benefit in the next few weeks. House testimony is due by April 14, and the testimony that our organizations submit will be strengthened immeasurably by the stories that you have to tell. Letters should come from people who have received NHPRC grants or from people who have benefited from the projects - genealogists, local government officials, historians, teachers, etc. In particular, we'd ask you or those you know who may have connections to the member of Congress to seek them out and encourage support for $20 million in funding for NHPRC. Often we think we can't reach these individuals, but if you don't have a connection yourself, then just by asking around you may find that someone you know or with whom you work has a connection to a key staff member or legislator. We are all constituents ourselves - and sometimes calling or making an appointment to visit your Congressperson or a staff member in the home office can have surprising results. Give it a try! Letters FAXED during the weeks of March 13 and March 20 would be perfectly timed to get their attention. Email is not given much credence because of the quantity that comes in, and postal mail is irradiated, adding literally weeks of time to receipt. The mid-level Fax technology works best for this. We have prepared several documents to assist you with this effort: . "Guidelines for Writing Letters to Members of Congress Regarding NHPRC Funding for 2007" includes information to guide you in developing the content of your letter(s). http://savearchives.pbwiki.com/f/LettersToCongress.doc . "A Partnership for the American Historical Record" describes the new initiative for state-based formula grants to help preserve and make accessible essential records. http://savearchives.pbwiki.com/f/PAHRexplanation.doc . A Fact Sheet on NHPRC provides more details that may be helpful for letters, phone calls, and visits. http://savearchives.pbwiki.com/f/NHPRCfactsheet.DOC All of these documents and additional background information are also available on a "wiki" that we have set up as a temporary information distribution tool: http://savearchives.pbwiki.com/ This is a publicly accessible site to which you can direct others who have an interest in this issue. The wiki also includes: . An Excel table containing contact information (including fax numbers) for members of the House and Senate appropriations committees and for the relevant subcommittees. . Basic "fact sheets" from four states (Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas) that you can use as models for developing one for your own state. Our final request is that you update us on your progress. If you could forward copies of your letters to us that would be very helpful. At the very least, we'd like to track how many letters go to each member of Congress and from whom so that we can be sure there is a good flow of mail to each person. Despite the general budget woes of the world, we have a unique opportunity to greatly improve the resources available to all of our institutions and all of our states. This is a crucial time for us to help ensure that NHPRC has the appropriate funding for national grants and for formula-based grants to our states. Please join us in taking advantage of this opportunity to strengthen archives throughout our nation. We appreciate your efforts on behalf of these important programs. Society of American Archivists Nancy Beaumont, Executive Director 312-922-0140 [log in to unmask] Council of State Archivists Kathleen Roe, Chair, CoSA Advocacy Committee 518-473-4254 [log in to unmask] National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators [log in to unmask] A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>