Urge Your Representative to Sign-on to the FY23 Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter!

Urge Your Representative to Sign-on to the Bipartisan FY23 Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter Today!

Congress is starting the appropriations process which will determine Fiscal Year 2023 funding levels for historic preservation. The co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), are leading the bipartisan FY23 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Dear Colleague Letter in the House. The letter request $200 million in funding for the HPF, the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Advocacy Week and would be a record level of funding for the program. The request includes much-needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, which are expected to face increased workloads from federally mandated project reviews associated with the recently passed infrastructure bill, and increases to critically important competitive grant programs. The letter requests:

  • $65 million for State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs)
  • $34 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs)
  • $35 million for the Save America’s Treasures Grant Program
  • $24 million for African American Civil Rights Initiative Competitive Grants
  • $12 million for competitive grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities
  • $12 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants
  • $10 million for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program
  • $5 million for the History of Equal Rights Competitive Grant Program
  • $3 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants

The letter will be submitted to the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and marks a strong commitment to protecting our historic resources for future generations. Congress needs to hear from preservation advocates.

To maximize the impact of the letter, we need as many Representatives to sign-on as possible. Urge your Representative to sign-on to the bipartisan FY23 HPF Dear Colleague Letter being circulated by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Mike Turner (R-OH) today! The deadline for signatures is COB, Friday, April 22.

If you have a personal contact in your Representative’s office, contact that person directly, and urge them to sign-on to the HPF dear colleague letter. If they do not handle Interior Appropriations please ask that they pass the message along to the Interior Appropriations staffer. Preservation Action has also made it easy for you take action. Check out the link below to easily edit and send a letter to your Representative today! Also be sure to share this alert with your networks.

Action Alert: Urge Your Members of Congress to Co-sponsor the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act

Take action to Protect African American Burial Grounds!

Help us take action on the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act, by reaching out to your members of Congress and urging them to co-sponsor this important bill!

Introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) in the Senate, Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA) in the House, the bipartisan African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act (S. 3667/H.R. 6805) authorizes the National Park Service to establish a $3 million grant program to identify and protect African American Burial Grounds.

The protection and documentation of African American burial grounds have long been neglected. Many African American burial grounds are in a state of disrepair, inaccessible, or their locations are unknown. Providing federal resources helps ensure that these sites are preserved, documented, and maintained for future generations.

Urge your U.S Representative and U.S Senators to support and co-sponsor the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act (S. 3667/H.R. 6805) TODAY!

If you have a personal contact in your Representative’s office, contact that person directly and urge them to co-sponsor the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act (S.3667/H.R. 6805). Preservation Action has also made it easy for you to take action, use the link below to easily edit and send a letter to your Representative today! Also be sure to share this alert with your networks.

Action Alert: Urge Your Representative to Co-sponsor the Historic Preservation Enhancement Act

Take action to enhance the Historic Preservation Fund!

Urge your Representative to co-sponsor the Historic Preservation Enhancement Act (H.R. 6589)! Introduced by Rep. Teresa Leger-Fernandez (D-NM) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), this important bill makes long over due enhancements and updates to the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). The Historic Preservation Enhancement Act would permanently authorize and fully fund the HPF. Authorization for the HPF is set to expire in September of 2023 and recent appropriation bills have exceeded the program’s authorized level of $150 million. This bill would:

  • Permanently authorize funding for the HPF
  • Increases authorization from $150 million to $300 million annually
  • Ensures the HPF’s $300 million is appropriated for it’s intended purpose each year

Since 1976, the Historic Preservation Fund has helped to recognize, save, revitalize, and protect America’s historic places. For more than 40 years, the HPF has empowered states and local entities to preserve the buildings and sites that tell their community’s stories. Through additional grant programs like the African American Civil Rights Grant Program, the History of Equal Rights grant program, the Underrepresented Communities Grant Program, and others, the HPF is helping to tell a more diverse and inclusive American story.The HPF’s authorization has not been increased since the program’s inception in 1976 and is long overdue. This bill would provide much needed certainty to the states, tribes, and local communities that rely on this federal funding to carry out their critical preservation work.

Urge your U.S Representative to support and co-sponsor the Historic Preservation Enhancement Act (H.R. 6589) TODAY!

If you have a personal contact in your Representative’s office, contact that person directly and urge them to co-sponsor the Historic Preservation Enhancement Act (H.R. 6589). Preservation Action has also made it easy for you to take action, use the link below to easily edit and send a letter to your Representative today! Also be sure to share this alert with your networks.

Urge Your Senators to Include Historic Tax Credit Provisions in Build Back Better Plan

After several weeks of negotiations the House passed the Build Back Better Act, President Biden’s social infrastructure reconciliation package. The final bill passed by the House DID NOT include much-needed provisions to enhance and improve the Historic Tax Credit. As the Senate is expected to take up the bill in the next few weeks, we need your help to make sure these important HTC provisions are included in the final reconciliation bill!

The draft of the bill released by the House Ways and Means Committee included similar provisions to the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2294S. 2266), that would temporarily increase the credit to 30% for five years, permanently increase the credit to 30% for projects under $2.5 million, and make several enhancements to improve the credit. While the Build Back Better bill passed by the House did bring back some community development tax incentive provisions, HTC provisions were NOT included. We need your help to ensure that long overdue provisions to enhance the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) are included in the final bill.

Take Action

The Historic Tax Credit has not been positively updated in 35 years. The provisions under consideration would help address pandemic related challenges impacting HTC projects, make the credit more attractive, especially for smaller projects, and easier to use. These provisions were NOT in the House passed Build Back Better bill. Senators need to hear from grassroots advocates like you to ensure these provisions are added back in the final bill. There are several actions you can take!

  1. Call your Senators, urge them to support provisions to enhance the Historic Tax Credit in the reconciliation bill.
  2. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators office.
  3. Introduce yourself as a constituent and say something like: “The Historic Tax Credit is the single most important tool for historic preservation. Though the HTC provisions were included in the Ways and Means bill in September, HTC provisions were not included in the recent “Build Back Better” bill passed by the House. Please make sure to include the HTC provisions in the final reconciliation bill. These provisions would benefit projects from Main Street revitalizations to large-scale rehabilitation while also supporting community revitalization and climate change mitigation.”
  4. Phone calls to your Senate offices are the priority. However, please feel free to also follow-up by email, especially if you have any contacts in your Senator’s office.
  5. You can also quickly and easily send an email your Senators online.

Negotiations are moving quick, so time is of the essence. We’ve provided additional resources and talking points to help with you advocacy efforts. Take action today!

Additional Resources

Urge Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act

Urge Your Senators and Representative to Cosponsor the Bipartisan Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act Today!

The Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act, H.R 2294, S. 2266 (HTC-GO) was introduced in the House by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and in the Senate by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). This bipartisan legislation includes many of the same changes to expand and enhance the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) included in the HTC-GO bill from the last Congress. The bills would bring more value to Historic Tax Credit projects, improve access, and encourage investment in smaller rehabilitation projects. The Senate version, however, does not include the temporary increase in the HTC from 20% to 30% to address pandemic related challenges, included in the House bill. This provision will likely be addressed in a separate bill in the Senate. The House bill is currently up to 100 cosponsors and the Senate bill has 14 cosponsors.

The Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act includes the following provisions:

  • A temporary increase of the Historic Tax Credit from 20% to 30% through 2024, phasing back down to 20% by 2027 (*House version only*)
  • Establishes a permanent 30% Historic Tax Credit for projects $2.5 million and less, making it easier to complete small projects
  • Eliminates the HTC Basis Adjustment, bringing more value to HTCs and making it easier to pair with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
  • Reduces the substantial rehabilitation threshold, making more buildings eligible to use the HTC
  • Makes the credit easier to use by non-profits

We need your help! Reach out to your members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor the bipartisan Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2294, S. 2266).

How to Take Action

Preservation Action has made it easy for you take action. If you have a personal contact in your Senators or Representative’s Washington D.C or District office, contact that person directly. If they do not handle tax issues, ask that they pass the message along to the appropriate tax staffer. You can also use our action campaign tool to easily edit and send a draft letter to your members of Congress office today! Please share any responses you receive with Preservation Action at mail@preservationaction.org to help inform our advocacy efforts. Also be sure to share this alert with your networks!

Additional Resources