By GAIL FINEBERG
The House has approved a fiscal 1994 net appropriation of $306,943,000 for the Library and authority to use $24,233,000 in receipts for operation of the Library and the Congressional Research Service.
The legislative branch appropriations bill (H.R. 2348) passed by the House on June 10, reflects earlier recommendations of the House Committee on Appropriations. Should the bill be passed in its current form by the Senate and signed by the president the Library would face a total reduction in purchasing power of some $15 million -- or $16.8 million if locality pay for Washington, D.C., workers takes effect July 1, 1994. Under the House bill, the Library would:
- Take a 1 percent decrease ($3.2 million) from the fiscal 1993 net appropriation of $310,099,000, including a loss of 50 authorized positions.
- Absorb $4.8 million in price level changes for the purchase of goods and services such as travel, training and talking- book machines.
- Reduce salary funds by $6.8 million.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will draft its own version of the legislative branch appropriations bill, including the Library's fiscal 1994 budget, which will then go to the full Senate for a vote later this year. Differences between the House and Senate versions will be reconciled in a Senate-House conference committee. The bill that emerges from that conference will go back to each body for approval before going to the president for signature.
House reductions in the Library's budget from the 1993 level are consistent with those for the entire legislative branch. The House version of the legislative branch bill reflects President Clinton's Feb. 10 executive orders (12839 and 12837) to executive agencies to cut not less than 4 percent (100,000) of their civilian positions, measured on a full-time equivalent basis, over the next three years, and to reduce administrative expenses from the 1993 level by no less than 3 percent for fiscal 1994, 6 percent for fiscal 1995, 9 percent for fiscal 1996 and 14 percent for fiscal 1997.
In his report to the House, Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee, said H.R. 2348 as recommended by the committee would allow only 11 new positions for the entire legislative branch, abolish 250 authorized permanent positions, curtail funding for 2,312 authorized permanent positions and require legislative agencies to cut an additional 920 full-time equivalent positions from the fiscal year 1992 level.
He projected that total outlays for the legislative branch, as reflected in H.R. 2348, would be 6.4 percent below current projections for fiscal 1993 operating levels.
"The Committee commends the more than 37,000 employees of the Legislative Branch for their diligence, hard work and dedication," Rep. Fazio said in the committee report. "The cuts herein are not aimed to penalize professional civil servants and other legislative employees, but only to indicate that this branch of government is a full participant in the effort to streamline the operations of government and to help solve our Nation's fiscal problems."
Impact on Library
"The House bill contains new administrative provisions that will have impact on the Library of Congress. We are studying those now to determine what the effect will be," said John D. Webster, the Library's financial services director.
Two provisions of the House bill would bring the legislative branch into line with the spending reductions and streamlining of operations ordered by President Clinton. Section 307 would provide for the 4 percent reduction in full-time equivalent positions by Sept. 30, 1995. "At least 10 percent of the positions eliminated shall be positions the pay for which is equal to or greater than the annual rate of basic pay payable for grade GS-14 of the General Schedule," according to the language of Section 307.
The effect of Section 307 on the Library would be a loss of more than 179 full-time equivalent positions, Mr. Webster said. Library officials are concerned, however, that staffing reductions required under Section 307 would not take into account downsizing already accomplished by the Library during fiscal 1992 in preparation for fiscal 1993.
Section 308 provides for the 14 percent cut in administrative expenses over the next four years, adjusting for inflation, and requires each entity of the legislative branch to "set forth a separate category for administrative expenses."
Another provision of the bill, Section 306, would authorize the Library, General Accounting Office and Government Printing Office to offer incentive separation payments to eligible employees who retire or voluntarily leave federal service before Jan. 1, 1994.
Subsection (b) of Section 306 originally provided for the elimination of one position and funding for each person taking advantage of the incentive payments, which virtually would have eliminated the Library's use of this new authority. However, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) raised a point of order regarding subsection (b), and it was eliminated from the final House version of the bill.
The Library cannot offer separation incentives until the Senate and president approve a final legislative branch appropriations bill containing a provision to provide for them. Mr. Webster said incentives would be up to $25,000 for each eligible employee. The Library would determine who is eligible for separation payments and develop policies and procedures for implementation.
The Library is evaluating the effect on the Library of another section, 206, which would limit reimbursable activities of the Library as well as the disbursement of gift and trust funds.
House Orders Specific Cuts
Following committee recommendations, the House bill would:
- Retain a level budget of $43,144,000 for the Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Program.
- Cut the Congressional Research Service budget by 1 percent, or $573,000.
- Cut the Copyright Office's basic budget by 1 percent but allow for an overall increase of $16,000 as result of additional authority to use receipts of $116,000.
- Eliminate an additional $55,000 in pay as well as the position for an administrative coordinator for the Librarian Emeritus.
- Cut the Library's basic appropriation by 1 percent.
More specifically, the bill would:
- Eliminate the American Memory Program (16 positions). "American Memory has been successfully demonstrated at 44 test sites. The technology works and is in place. Now is the time to prepare the final report which will allow the private sector and educational establishment to utilize the benefits of the Library's research and development," the House Committee on Appropriations said in its report to the full House.
- Eliminate Special Projects (25 positions) and science and technology initiatives, including the associate librarian for science and technology information (3 positions) and the National Translations Center (5 positions).
- Redirect funding from bonuses for senior level employees ($80,000 annual salary and above) to "higher priority activities. Next year, the Committee will again review this expenditure, which is presumably justified as being comparable to a similar program available in the Senior Executive Service," the Appropriations Committee said.
With respect to special projects, this activity is being significantly reduced under the Library's own volition," the committee said. "The remainder of those personnel resources, which comprise an extremely talented staff pool, can be most effectively utilized in human resources, automation or in the arrearage project."