This week Ramona Bartos, President of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers and Deputy SHPO of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, submitted testimony before the U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.
Outlining the unique Federal-State partnership with State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs), President Bartos underscored the need to appropriately fund SHPOs through the Historic Preservation Fund for FY 2025 in the amount of $70 million. The proposed increase which is just shy of $8 million over FY24 appropriations is key to efficient functioning of SHPO offices. From FY23 to FY24 SHPO funding remained flat, and from FY22 to FY23, 23 states did not see an increase in their funding.
All the while, SHPO offices continue to face hardships in hiring and retaining qualified staff, providing competitive compensation, keeping pace with technology needs, and battling unrelenting inflation. And perhaps most notably, data was recently released which demonstrates a 42.7% increase in federal project review [FY23 NPS Annual HPF Report].
In total, NCSHPO requests the Historic Preservation Fund be appropriated $225 million for FY 2025. In partnership with fellow colleague organizations, the remainder of funds requested for the HPF are as follows:
Fiscal Year 2025 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Appropriations Request: $225 million
- $70 million for State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs)
- $40 million for the Save America’s Treasures grant program
- $34 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs)
- $28 million for the African American Civil Rights grant program
- $17 million for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grant program
- $13 million Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) grant program
- $11 million for the Semiquincentennial grant program
- $7 million for the History of Equal Rights grant program
- $5 million for the Underrepresented Community grant program