Issue: Historic Preservation
Issue
In addition to preserving and protecting more than 1 billion objects, many museums are historic themselves, and their collections are critical to telling our collective national story. Historic sites and historic preservation efforts not only protect our national heritage, they are also economic engines and job creators in the thousands of communities they serve. Minimal government funding helps to leverage significant private support, often through the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit. The FY 2017 appropriations provided $47.9 million to State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs), $10.5 million to Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs), and $500,000 for grants to underserved communities—all through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). It also provided an additional $13 million from the HPF to document, interpret, and preserve the stories and sites associated with the Civil Rights movement. Save America’s Treasures (SAT) received $5 million in FY 2017 through the HPF, the first funding it has received since FY 2010. Preserve America has not been funded since FY 2010.
- We urge Congress to support FY 2018 funding of at least $55 million for SHPOs, $15 million for THPOs, $25 million for civil rights sites, to restore funding of $30 million for Save America’s Treasures and $4.6 million for Preserve America, and to continue to support the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit.
Download the PDF of the full Historic Preservation Issue Brief