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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #9, March 23, 2000



NCC Washington Update, Vol 6, #9, March 23, 2000
   by Page Putnam Miller, Director of the National Coordinating
      Committee for the Promotion of History <pagem@capaccess.org>

1.   Head of NEH Testifies On FY 2001 Budget
2.   Pending State Laws on E-Commerce Could
          Have Harmful Impact on Libraries
3.   Reauthorization of NHPRC

1.  Head of NEH Testifies On FY 2001 Budget - On March 23 William
Ferris, the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
testified before the Subcommittee on Interior of the House
Appropriations Committee. Representative Ralph Regula (R-OH), the chair
of the subcommittee, presided.  Also in attendance were Representatives
David Obey (D-WI),
Ranking Minority on the House Appropriations Committee;  Joe Skeen
(R-NM); George Nethercutt (R-WA);  Norman Dicks (D-WA), Ranking Minority
Member; James Moran (D-VA);  Robert (Bud) Cramer (D-AL);  and Maurice
Hinchey (D-NY).  The one hour hearing was a love fest as each of the
eight representatives present joined in extolling the programs or NEH
and praising Ferris' leadership.  This hearing definitely illustrated
strong bi-partisan support for NEH.

In his opening statement Ferris stressed the ways in which the almost 40
percent cut in NEH's budget in 1996 had deprived Americans of many
quality films and exhibits, and he noted the opportunities that NEH had
to pass up to enhance public education and to provide research
assistance to scholars due to the budget cut.  In advocating the
Administration's request for an increase from $115.26 million to $150
million, Ferris said that he
recognized the challenges facing the subcommittee in making its budget
decisions, but he asserted that NEH was the subcommittees best
investment for giving a significant return on tax dollars to the
American people.  Frequently during the hearing Ferris spoke of the ways
NEH grants provide seed money that give a stamp of approval that then
assists projects in
gaining private sector support.  Since its founding, Ferris said that
NEH funding had leveraged $1.59 billion in private and corporate funds.

During the question and answer portion of the hearing, there was
extended discussion of the ways that NEH can serve rural areas and small
communities.  Several members asked for more details about the kinds of
programs that Ferris said would help the country to guard against
"historical amnesia," a concern that historian James McPherson had
raised almost a decade ago in testimony before Congress.  There were
also questions about the new NEH initiative to create regional
humanities centers and about NEH's efforts to raise additional funds
from corporations and foundations.

One part of the Administration's budget proposal that was not discussed
at the hearing, but which is of special interest to scholars, is the
increase in the stipends for the approximately 170 full-year research
fellowships that NEH awards.  Since 1990 the stipend for year-long
fellowships has remained at $30,000, an amount that is well below the
annual salaries of most applicants.  In view of the need to continue to
attract serious
humanities researchers, the NEH would increase the level in 2001 to
$35,000;  and if additional funds are available, the following year that
amount could be raised to $40,000.  There is also a plan to phase-in an
increase for stipends for the approximately 130 summer fellowships from
the current level of $4,000 to $5,000.  At the hearing, Ferris did
emphasize the many NEH fellowships that have provided early research
funds for projects that later became prize winning books.  Ferris noted
that Historian James McPherson, who will deliver the 29th Jefferson
Lecture in the Humanities on March 27, received an NEH fellowship that
supported a portion of his research for the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for
History, Battle
Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era.

2.  Pending State Laws on E-Commerce Could Have Harmful Impact on
Libraries - Librarians are taking the lead in opposing the Uniform
Computer Information Transactions Act that is currently pending in
several state legislatures.  This legislation is based on a draft model
law that the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
has put forward as a revision to the Uniform Commercial Code, a body of
law that has been adopted by most states to ensure consistent rules
governing state to stat e contract law.  The Virginia, Maryland,
Illinois, and Oklahoma state legislatures now have before them the
Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act.  The concern of the
library community is that this law which originally dealt only with
transactions of tangible goods will also impact contract law dealing
with intangible goods.  Since there is a growing use of licenses
agreement to sell software, online data bases, and digital products,
there is a concern about the harmful effects that this legislation could
have on libraries.

Many in the library and information technology communities believe that
the Uniform Computer Information Transition Act would grant broad new
powers to software and information vendors at the expense of businesses
and consumers and would curtail the use and circulation of public
information.  James G. Neal, the Dean of the University Libraries at
Johns Hopkins University, testified in February on behalf of five
national library associations before a committee of the Maryland General
Assembly. He noted that his university will spend this year over two
million on the purchase or licensing of electronic and online
resources.  Thus, he explained that libraries have a big stake in laws
that deal with commercial transactions involving electronic
information.  Neal spoke strongly against the new measure for he said it
would substitute the private law of contract for the public law of
copyright in ways that would be detrimental to consumers, including
libraries.

A new group of business leaders, public information advocates, and
librarians have form a new coalition know as "For a Competitive
Information and Technology Economy" or 4CITE.  Recognizing the complex,
confusing, and controversial aspects of the Uniform Computer Information
Transaction Act, they have created a Web site, <http://www.4cite.org>,
to provide background material and current information.

3.  Reauthorization of NHPRC - The current authorization of the grants
program of the National Historical Publication and Records Commission
ends with the 2001 budget that is currently under consideration.  NHPRC
makes grants each year to institutions across the country to preserve
historical records, publish historical papers, and make historical
materials more accessible.  The current funding level for NHPRC
competitive grants is
$6 million.  Planning ahead for 2002 budget, Representative Steve Horn
(R-CA), the Chair of the Subcommittee on Government Management,
Information, and Technology of the House Committee on Government Reform,
plans to introduce a bill at the end of March that will reauthorize
NHPRC at its current ceiling level of $10 million for 3 years, the years
2002 to
2005. A hearing on the NHPRC reauthorization bill is scheduled for April
4.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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