ACRA urged House lawmakers to provide robust funding for historic preservation programs in the upcoming fiscal year 2027 budget, despite proposals from the Trump administration to make significant cuts.
In written testimony submitted to the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, ACRA recommended that Congress provide $250 million out of the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) for S/THPOs and competitive grant programs, as well as funding for the African American Burial Grounds Preservation program and for Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Grants.
As previously reported in ACRASphere, the White House has proposed a massive cut to the HPF, asking Congress to provide zero money to S/THPOs and spending just $11 million to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) preserve historic buildings. The administration proposed the same amount last year, but Congress ultimately provided $181 million from the HPF for S/THPOs, HBCUs and other grants.
Within the funding from the HPF, ACRA urged the Subcommittee to provide $25 million to help states and Tribes modernize preservation data systems and improve access to historic resource information. Pointing out that the lack of digitized records can slow the Section 106 process, ACRA wrote that the funding is an effective way for Congress to “accelerate the federal permitting process while ensuring the protection of historic properties.”
ACRA also expressed deep concern about federal workforce cuts that have hurt the federal government’s ability to comply with statutorily mandated requirements under Section 106 and other laws protecting cultural resources: “Throughout the Executive Branch we have seen qualified cultural resource expertise lost in the name of government efficiency. Unfortunately, these moves often have the opposite effect, making permitting processes less efficient as remaining agency staff confront ever-growing backlogs of statutorily required duties.”
ACRA’s testimony urged the Subcommittee’s to include in its bill language it passed last year instructing the Department to maintain staffing levels in order to fulfill their missions, including the protection of natural and cultural resources.