Advocacy Updates & Deadlines
Good Reads: Hurricane Helene recovery | FEMA restructuring
Today is the deadline for signing the House letter to the Appropriations Committee asking for full funding for the National Heritage Program that funds the National Heritage Areas. There is still time to call your congressional delegation and urge them to sign the letter that is being spearheaded by Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-NY). Current signers as of noon today include:
Ansari, Yassamin (D-AZ)
Bera, Ami (D-CA)
Beyer, Donald (D-VA)
Boyle, Brendan (D-PA)
Bresnahan, Robert (R-PA)
Budzinski, Nikki (D-IL)
Carson, André (D-IN)
Casten, Sean (D-IL)
Cleaver, Emanuel (D-MO)
Cohen, Steve (D-TN)
Connolly, Gerald (D-VA)
Courtney, Joe (D-CT)
Davids, Sharice (D-KS)
Davis, Danny (D-IL)
Davis, Donald (D-NC)
DelBene, Suzan (D-WA)
DeSaulnier, Mark (D-CA)
Dingell, Debbie (D-MI)
Evans, Gabe (R-CO)
Figures, Shomari (D-AL)
Fitzpatrick, Brian (R-PA)
Garamendi, John (D-CA)
Gottheimer, Josh (D-NJ)
Graves, Sam (R-MO)
Hayes, Jahana (D-CT)
Houlahan, Chrissy (D-PA)
Hoyer, Steny (D-MD)
Jackson, Jonathan (D-IL)
Jayapal, Pramila (D-WA)
Kelly, Mike (R-PA)
Kelly, Robin (D-IL)
Kennedy, Timothy (D-NY)
Krishnamoorthi, Raja (D-IL)
Larsen, Rick (D-WA)
Matsui, Doris (D-CA)
McGovern, James (D-MA)
Mfume, Kweisi (D-MD)
Moulton, Seth (D-MA)
Nadler, Jerrold (D-NY)
Neal, Richard (D-MA)
Neguse, Joe (D-CO)
Omar, Ilhan (D-MN)
Pallone, Frank (D-NJ)
Panetta, Jimmy (D-CA)
Riley, Josh (D-NY)
Scanlon, Mary Gay (D-PA)
Schrier, Kim (D-WA)
Smith, Adam (D-WA)
Smucker, Lloyd (R-PA)
Stefanik, Elise (R-NY)
Stevens, Haley (D-MI)
Strickland, Marilyn (D-WA)
Thompson, Bennie (D-MS)
Thompson, Glenn (R-PA)
Tlaib, Rashida (D-MI)
Tonko, Paul (D-NY)
Trahan, Lori (D-MA)
Turner, Michael (R-OH)
Williams, Nikema (D-GA)
59 is a good number of signers and a good cross section of states but a few more signatures will definitely be appreciated.
A NHA funding letter is now circulating in the Senate spearheaded by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). I am pasting the Dear Colleague below, which provides details on how to sign on. I will also attach the letter to Senate Appropriations leadership. The deadline to sign is COB, Monday, May 19.
Senator Blumenthal invites your boss to join the attached letter requesting support for National Heritage Areas in the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies FY26 Appropriations bill.
The 62 National Heritage Areas across the country preserve and revitalize cultural, historic and natural resources, delivering recreational and educational opportunities to visitors, residents and entire regions. Through innovative public-private partnerships, National Heritage Areas have effectively leveraged federal resources, attracting an average of $5.50 of private funding for each dollar appropriated. NHAs generate valuable revenue for local governments and sustain communities through revitalization and heritage tourism. Now more than ever, our NHAs are critical for creating jobs and economic opportunity in hundreds of local communities across the nation.
Please join us in requesting that appropriators provide a level of funding of $33.5 million for the National Heritage Area program in the FY26 budget. Funding for this critical initiative will enable communities and regions to effectively tell the stories of their past for the benefit of present and future generations.
FY25 (last year's) cosigners: Bennet, Booker, Brown, Cantwell, Cardin, Casey, Cortez Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Feinstein, Gillibrand, Hassan, Heinrich, Hickenlooper, Kaine, Kelly, King, Lujan, Markey, Murphy, Padilla, Peters, Reed, Rosen, Sanders, Sinema, Stabenow, Van Hollen, Warner, Warnock, Warren, Welch, Butler
To sign on, please use this link. The deadline to join is Monday, May 19 (5/19) COB.For any questions, please contact Sari Kaufman Sari_Kaufman@Blumenthal.Senate.gov and Ashley Law, Ashley_Law@blumenthal.senate.gov in Senator Blumenthal’s office.
Signatures continue to be collected for both the House and Senate sign on letters to the Appropriations Committee leadership calling for robust funding for America 250 programming through the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). This effort has been spearheaded by the America Association for State & Local History, who is requesting that the funding be used for local efforts. As of COB yesterday, signers to the House letter include:
John Larson (D-CT)
Jen Kiggans (R-VA)
Sharice Davids (D-KS)
Scott Peters (D-CA) Viewed but did not sign
Nellie Pou (D-NJ) Viewed but did not sign
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) Viewed but did not sign
Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)
Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
Mary Gay Scanlon (R-PA)
Dina Titus (D-NV)
Joe Neguse (D-CO)
Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
April McClain Delaney (D-MD)
Jim Costa (D-CA)
Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Nicholas Begich (R-AK)
LaMonica McIver (D-NJ)
Mike Carey (R-OH)
Rich McCormick (R-GA)
Chris Pappas (D-NH)
Sarah Elfreth (D-MD)
Earl Carter (R-GA)
Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX)
Jahanna Hayes (D-CT)
Lori Trahan (D-MA)
Seth Magaziner (D-RI)
Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ)
Hillary Scholten (D-MI)
Eleanor Norton (D-DC)
Chris Deluzio (D-PA)
George Whitesides (D-CA)
Donald Norcross (D-NJ)
Alma Adams (D-NC)
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL)
Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)
Joe Courtney (D-CT)
Daniel Meuser (R-PA)
Michael Lawler (R-NY)
Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA)
Lucy McBath (D-GA)
Danny Davis (D-IL)
Richard Neal (D-MA)
Jennifer McClellan (D-VA)
Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)
Troy Carter (D-LA)
Keith Self (R-TX)
Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)
Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)
Randy Weber (D-TX)
Gabe Amo (D-RI)
Shomari Figures (D-AL)
Max Miller (R-OH)
Thomas Suozzi (D-NY)
Robert Wittman (R-VA)
Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Robert Garcia (D-CA)
Robert Bresnahan (R-PA)
Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Russ Fulcher (R-ID)
Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY)
With 60 signers for the America 250 funding letter there is a lot of overlap with the NHA funding letter, I wanted to share these names because it gives advocates a good idea of who supports investments in essential programs to help communities tell their stories. It’s also a good rundown of who is running for the U.S. Senator or Governor.
I was very happy to see that the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus have signed: Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL).
Tourism organizations are still needed to endorse the AGRITOURISM Act. Just let me know if you are interested and how you would like you organization to be listed.
Good Reads: Hurricane Helene recovery and FEMA reorganization
Earlier this month, the staff of The Washington Post won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on Hurricane Helene and its aftermath. I am happy to report that The Washington Post is not walking away from this story. Last week, the Post published a story on Months after Helene, it’s still hard to drive these North Carolina Roads.
This afternoon, the Post published a story on a Senate hearing on how insurance companies handled claims after Hurricane Helene and Milton tore through the Southeast.
Lastly, POLITICO reported on a bipartisan group of members in the House that are working on legislation detail a sweeping FEMA restructuring to counter the effort by the Trump Administration to abolish the agency.