Rob Naylor – Preservation Action

May 8, 2025May 8, 2025

4 Actions to Protect Historic Preservation You Can Take Right Now

Federal historic preservation programs are in crisis. From funding delays, cuts, and staff reductions at NPS to the Historic Preservation Fund being nearly eliminated in the President’s budget request, we need your help!

Here are four things you can do right now that can make a difference.

Invite Congressional staff to attend the Historic Preservation Month Congressional Briefing on May 13th at 12pm in 2168 Rayburn House Office Building. The briefing, hosted by Preservation Action, in cooperation with the House Historic Preservation Caucus, will feature a panel of national preservation experts and is a great opportunity to educate staff on the federal historic preservation program.

Help us spread the word! Please share the Preservation Month Briefing Flyer with your Congressional offices. Offices can RSVP for briefing at http://bit.ly/MayBriefing2025.
We’ve put together a sample invite to make it easy. If you have personal contact in your Representative or Senator’s office, reach out to them directly. If you need any help finding staff contacts, feel free to reach out to Rob Naylor at Preservation Action (rnaylor@preservationaction.org).
Live nearby? Join us in person.

Learn More and Take Action

2. Reach out to your members of Congress and ask them to help facilitate the immediate approval of the FY25 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Historic Preservation Fund and subsequent review and approval of applications.

These funds are urgently needed to ensure the work of SHPOs and THPOs continues to aid in the preservation of our nation’s heritage
Without prompt funding State and Tribes will be forced to eliminate federally-required staff – jeopardizing billions in investment
Share the Historic Preservation Under Threat one-pagers with your members of Congress and let them know how these funding delays are impacting your state and community! This is especially important if your members are on the House or Senate Appropriations Committee.
If you have personal contact in your Representative or Senator’s office, reach out to them directly. If you need any help finding staff contacts, feel free to reach out to Rob Naylor at Preservation Action (rnaylor@preservationaction.org).

3. Ask your Representatives to sign onto the FY26 House Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter. This bipartisan letter is being circulated by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Teresa Leger Ferrnandez (D-NM), and requests $225 million for the HPF – the same amount advocated for during Advocacy Week. The deadline for signatures is COB Thursday, May 15th.

Offices can sign-on by using the internal Quill link (this is for internal House use only) or by reaching out to Clare Pavell at Clare.Pavell@mail.house.gov in Rep. Turner’s office or Mark Zientek at Mark.Zientek@mail.house.gov in Rep. Leger Fernandez’s office.
Review the FY26 House HPF Dear Colleague Letter and learn more here. Stay tuned for more details coming soon on a Senate letter.
Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your Representative today!

Take Action

4. Encourage your Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S. 1459) and include provisions in emerging tax legislation. This newly-introduced bill includes provisions we advocated for during Advocacy Week to restore value to the credit, improve access to the credit, make more projects eligible, and boost the credit for smaller and rural projects.

We expect the House and Senate to move very quickly on tax legislation. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote on their portion of the budget reconciliation bill by next week. Now is the time to reach out. This is especially important if any of your members serve on the House Ways and Means Committee or the Senate Finance Committee.
More information and additional resources are available here.
Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your members of Congress today!

Take Action

May 8, 2025

Urge Your Members of Congress to Sign-on to the FY26 Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter

In the face of proposed cuts, we need your help to ensure historic preservation priorities receive necessary funding! The appropriations process is getting underway in Congress which will determine funding levels for historic preservation priorities for the next fiscal year. The Trump Administration released their skinny budget earlier this month which proposed nearly eliminating the Historic Preservation Fund entirely. Thankfully bipartisan majorities in Congress have consistently shown strong support for historic preservation, but they need to hear from you.

Champions in the House are currently circulating FY26 Dear Colleague Letters in support of the Historic Preservation Fund. The co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) are leading the House letter. Stay tuned for details on a Senate letter coming soon!

The letter request $225 million in funding for the Historic Preservation Fund, the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. The letters note the important work that State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices do across the country, and highlight preservation projects that are made possible through seven existing preservation grant programs.

To maximize the impact of the letter, we need as many members of Congress to sign-on as possible. We’ve made it easy for you to take action, check out our Action Alert below to learn more and easily reach out to your members of Congress TODAY!

House

The House letter is being led by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM).
Signatures due: COB Thursday May 15, 2025
If you have a personal contact in your Representative’s office, contact that person directly, especially if you recently met with their office during Advocacy Week, and urge them to sign-on to the HPF dear colleague letter. If they do not handle Interior Appropriations please ask that they pass the message along to the Interior Appropriations staffer. Preservation Action has also made it easy for you take action. Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your Representative today!

Take Action!

Details on a Senate letter are expected soon. Stay tuned for more.

April 18, 2025April 22, 2025

Advocacy Alert: Urge Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act and Include Provisions in Emerging Tax Legislation

Senate and House champions have introduced the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S.1459). Led by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in the Senate and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) in the House, these bills include several provisions that will restore value to the Historic Tax Credit (HTC), improve access to the credit, make more projects eligible to use the credit, and boost the credit for smaller and rural rehabilitation projects. The bill includes the following provisions:

HTC-GO Provisions

Returns to a 1-year delivery of Historic Tax Credits for all projects
Eliminates the HTC Basis Adjustment, bringing more value to HTCs and making it easier to pair with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
Reduces the substantial rehabilitation threshold from 100% to 50%, making more buildings eligible to use the HTC
Modifies Tax Exempt Use Rules, making the credit easier to use by non-profits
Increases the credit from 20% to 30% for small projects below $3.75 million
Increases the credit from 20% to 30% for projects below $5 million in rural areas
All small/rural projects are eligible for direct transfer

The federal HTC is the largest federal investment in historic preservation and a critical economic development tool used to revitalize our communities, create jobs, and preserve our heritage. Unfortunately, the HTC has not kept pace with other federal incentives and needs to be modernized. Additionally, over the past decade, HTCs have lost 25% of their investment value due to unfavorable IRS rulings, administrative burdens, and changes in the credit structure. The provisions in the HTC-GO Act would help restore the credit’s lost value and make the credit easier to use.

With a series of tax provisions expiring at the end of the year, one of the top priorities of Congress and the White House will be passing a large tax package. This provides a huge opportunity to ensure HTC provisions are included in the emerging tax bill. The House and Senate passed budget resolutions that clear the way to pass budget reconciliation bills, which could move early this summer. Advocates will also be paying close attention to any attempts to weaken the HTC as lawmakers seek cost-saving measures.

The voice of preservation advocates will be absolutely essential to make the case for enhancing the HTC, ensuring it is included as part of emerging tax legislation, and fending off any potential threats to diminish the credit.

We need your help!

Urge your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the bipartisan Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S. 1459) and include HTC provisions in emerging tax legislation

If you have a personal contact in your Representative or Senators’ office, contact that person directly, especially if you just met with their office during Advocacy Week. Urge them to co-sponsor the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S. 1459). If they do not handle tax issues please ask that they pass the message along to the appropriate staff person. Preservation Action has also made it easy for you take action. Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your members of Congress and share this alert with your networks!

TAKE ACTION

Additional Resources

March 24, 2025

Raising Our Collective Voice- A Special Message From Preservation Action’s President, Russ Carnahan

2025 has ushered in a new and complex political era in Washington, D.C. As the second Trump Administration has taken office, sweeping Executive Orders and slash-and-burn administrative actions are reshaping the environment in which we work and threaten the people, places, and policies that many of us rely on. At the same time, we are witnessing one of the largest freshman classes in recent Congressional history, with 70 new Members of Congress and historically narrow margins in both chambers.

We want to acknowledge that this dynamic and the rapid pace of change is extremely difficult. It’s hard to witness our friends lose jobs, see contracts and critical funding cut, watch as key laws are circumvented, voices silenced, colleagues deported, history censored or erased, and basic rights stripped away. Dozens of lawsuits are piling up and some actions have been reversed thanks to the collective loud advocacy directed at elected officials.

Our recent successful National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week brought 200 advocates from 45 states and territories to the Hill for 250 meetings with Congressional offices. No matter the political affiliation, our message was clear: historic preservation matters to all Americans. The programs we champion — the Historic Preservation Fund and the Historic Tax Credit — have long enjoyed bipartisan support, reflecting their broad economic, cultural, and community value. Our call to reauthorize the Historic Preservation Fund, secure $225 million in appropriations for FY2026, and enhance the Historic Tax Credit remains vital.

In our many meetings on the Hill, the main theme that we heard from Congress was “keep us informed.” Members and their staff are often hearing about federal actions at the same time we are, and are eager to hear how our communities, businesses, and institutions have been impacted. Regardless of the party, Members asked for follow-up examples on how the funding freezes, jobs cuts, cancelled contracts, threats to NEPA and Section 106, GSA buildings sold, etc. are affecting our jobs, employees, and lives. This moment demands that we continue to connect the dots for them, and we are actively collaborating with the bipartisan leaders of the House Historic Preservation Caucus to ensure that preservation stays front and center amid competing priorities.

We need everyone — Hill veterans and new advocates — to mobilize like never before. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for our preservation leaders and practitioners alike to demonstrate the power of local stories, economic impact, job creation, and more to the trusted relationships on the Hill that we’ve built across the country. If you’ve ever wondered whether your voice matters in this work, now is the most critical time to step forward.

We urge you to engage with your members of Congress often to build that relationship, to support our work directly, and to let us know how we can amplify your voice. Preservation Action is the grassroots lobby for historic preservation; your agenda is our agenda. Together, we can make a lasting impact.