Before members headed home for July Fourth, the Senate and House approved a $323.2 million net LC appropriation for fiscal 1995, or a 5.4 percent increase over 1994.
The total LC budget was $348.5 million, including authority to spend $25.3 million in receipts (notably by the Copyright Office and Cataloging Distribution Service), as part of the overall legislative branch appropriations bill (see table).
House and Senate conferees met early the week of June 27 to hammer out differences between the House and (more generous) Senate versions of the LC budget. Close to the Senate version, the compromise was $4.4 million higher than the House mark. The House approved the compromise June 29, followed by the Senate in a voice vote on July 1. Passage of the LC appropriation came much earlier than usual.
Among those urging the House conferees to go along with the Senate version was Rep. William L. Clay (D-Mo.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials, who said the Library needed a "period of budget stability."
Dr. Billington last February asked for a total of $358 million, or a 7.9 percent increase, for FY 1995, mostly to sustain current programs and pay for expected mandatory wage and price increases, after losing 395 full-time equivalent positions since 1992. He warned that the Library was losing its ability to serve Congress and the nation.
According to Library officials, Congress gave LC enough money to avert further disruption in operations. The approved budget will fund projected pay increases of 3.05 percent, including 2 percent for cost of living and 1.05 percent for locality pay; the exact amounts remain unknown.
However, LC officials warned, the Library is not out of the downsizing mode. It is still subject to the congressionally mandated ceiling of 4,568 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions for FY 1995, including positions financed by appropriated, reimbursable and revolving funds. Many vacancies exist in key areas.
Congress approved Dr. Billington's request to shift American Memory funds to support the Digital Library effort and to continue the successful arrearage reduction campaign. Both are high-priority items under the LC strategic plan.
Other Highlights
- Congressional Research Service: A 5.93 percent increase, enough to halt further erosion of CRS staff, which the Senate said was not "in the interest of the nation."
- Affirmative Action Office: An additional position to bolster major equal employment opportunity efforts now under way.
- Copyright Office: A 7.38 percent budget increase to add five new positions for the Licensing Division, which has assumed functions formerly performed by the now-defunct Copyright Tribunal.
- Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped: A 5.49 percent increase, notably to buy more talking book machines to replace worn-out equipment.
- Furniture and Furnishings: A $1.9 million increase, mostly to buy equipment and furniture for the renovated Jefferson and Adams buildings.
The Architect of the Capitol was allotted $2.5 million to fund renovations of the Coolidge Auditorium and the Whittall Pavilion, but a Senate-approved $1 million project to do environmental control work in Jefferson exhibition spaces was dropped in the final compromise bill.