march11b2.indd


C&RL News March 2011  178

to fund the federal government for 2011, the 
House of Representatives was in the process 
of finalizing H.R. 1, commonly referred to as 
the “Continuing Resolution or C.R.,” at the 
same time that the President’s budget for 2012 
was being released.

With the ink practically still drying on 
the 2012 budget proposal, the House of 
Representatives threw a curveball at library 
advocates—pitched by U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett 
(R-NJ-5). Garrett submitted an amendment to 
the C.R. to zero out IMLS all together. 

Garrett’s attempt to strip support away 
from America’s libraries sent off a chain of 
action from the ALA, and the ALA Washington 
Office credits our association’s committed 
grassroots advocacy network for the ultimate 
withdrawal of the amendment. By the late 
afternoon of the 16th, a Garrett staff member 
confirmed to Office of Government Relations 
Assistant Director Jeff Kratz that the congress-
man would not “push” for the amendment.

Garrett’s amendment was one of a slew 
—somewhere in neighborhood of 700—of 
amendments to be offered to the C.R. 

One amendment that the association 
did support was offered by U.S. Rep. Mike 
Doyle (D-PA-14), which bolstered the library 
community’s calls for more open access to 
federal taxpayer funded research. Doyle’s 
amendment called for the National Institutes 
of Health’s public access policy to apply to 
all departments funded by the act that ex-
pend more than $100 million for extramural 
research. This “nod” was a step in the right 
direction for procuring more open access 
—regardless of the outcome of the amend-
ment itself.

Given all the legislative drama over pass-
ing funding for 2011, the process for 2012 
is sure to be just as uncertain. The ALA 
Washington Office urges all library advocates 
to use the ALA Legislative Action Center 
(capwiz.com/ala/home/) and to subscribe 
to the Washington Office blog, the District 
Dispatch. 

Jenni Terry is press officer at ALA’s Washington Office, 
e-mail: jterry@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eJenni Terry

February federal funding saga pulls 
libraries into the drama
When President Obama released his FY2012 
budget proposal on February 14, the future 
of library federal funding and the Institute of 
Museum and Library Services (IMLS) looked 
pretty bleak. Yet, by day’s end, the President’s 
vision for next year was overshadowed by 
the Republican-led Congress’ efforts to final-
ize federal funding for the current fiscal year 
while also taking a kitchen-sink approach to 
legislating.

In his FY2012 budget request, the Presi-
dent asked for $193.2 million for the Library 
Services and Technology Act (LSTA), which 
is approximately $20 million below the cur-
rent funding level. $20 million may not sound 
like a draconian cut, but it is a 10 percent cut 
to the primary source of federal funding for 
libraries. Under his recommendation, LSTA 
programs—grants to states, the National 
Leadership Program, and the Laura Bush 
21st Century Librarian Program—were all 
targeted for cuts.

The budget proposal called for reduc-
ing the grants to states’ funding level from 
$172.5 million to $161.3 million, cutting the 
National Leadership Program to $12.2 million, 
and dropping the Laura Bush 21st Century 
Librarian Program from $24.5 million to $15.6 
million.

Fortunately, the President’s budget request 
is only a considered a blueprint for Congress. 
However, the unfortunate part is that after it is 
released, both the House and the Senate must 
produce their own budgets and carry out the 
appropriations process. The rally cries for 
deeper cuts coming from the right indicated 
that the biggest battle might not be with the 
President but with the Congress. 

Meanwhile, since last year’s Congress did 
not pass all of the appropriations bills needed