Author: Rob Naylor

The August congressional recess is officially underway. Members of Congress are scheduled to be back in-district/state through the the entire month of August and Labor Day until Sept. 1st. Lawmakers will again be in recess the last week of September. This is great time to reach out to your Representative and Senators and invite them to visit a Historic Tax Credit project or historic site.

Unfortunately, long overdue improvements to the Historic Tax Credit (HTC), called for in the HTC Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S. 1459), were not included as part of the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill”. As advocates are recalibrating and looking at potential next steps, it’s crucial we start building broader and deeper support for these much-needed improvements to the HTC. This will help ensure the provisions included in HTC-GO are well positioned to be enacted as part of a future legislative vehicle.

The August recess is the best opportunity for lawmakers to see the incredible benefits of the Historic Tax Credit and potential benefits of the HTC-GO Act first-hand. Inviting members of Congress to see the impact of the of the HTC and preservation programs in-person is one of the most powerful and effective advocacy tools we have. If your Representative or Senators serve on the House Ways and Means Committee or Senate Finance Committee, these members are especially important to contact. Reach out to your members of Congress today!

Take Action!

• Reach out to your members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S. 1459). If your Representative or Senators have already cosponsored, be sure to thank them! Preservation Action has made it easy for you to take action through our online advocacy tool! 
• Invite your members of Congress to tour a completed, in-progress, or potential HTC project or other historic site in their district/state. This is one of most effective ways to demonstrate the value of the HTC and Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). Be sure to also discuss how the HTC-GO could further benefit communities across their district/state, and how support for the HPF helps make it possible. Be flexible with possible dates to meet, but if your member of Congress is unavailable, offer to meet with their staff. Be persistent. Sometimes it will take multiple touches.
• Review the Arranging a Congressional site-visit guide put together by our partners at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Historic Tax Credit Coalition and the 5 Tips for Successful Site Visits to learn more about arranging a site visit.

If you need any assistance or need contact information for the scheduler in your members of Congress’s office, Rob Naylor at Preservation Action (rnaylor@preservationaction.org). Also be sure share stories and photos from your site visits with us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn!

Resources:

• Historic Tax Credit One Pager- Preservation Month
• HTC-GO Fact Sheet
• HTC State Maps and Project Lists
• Preservation Action HTC-GO Action Alert

*Update* FY25 HPF Funds Released. On July 1st The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) was posted on grants.gov allowing for State Historic Preservation Offices and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices to apply for their FY25 funding.

A huge thank you to everyone that reached out to their members of Congress, contacted administration officials, wrote Op-Eds, organized at the state and local level, and much more. Your advocacy made a difference. We also appreciate the efforts of many members of Congress that continued to apply pressure to the administration to release these critical funds. Thank you!

While we take a moment to celebrate, we know future funding for the HPF is still under threat. We continue to urge lawmakers to support robust funding for the HPF in FY26.

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The Historic Preservation Fund is under direct threat and Congress needs to hear from you! Despite Congress appropriating funds for the HPF in March, funding has not been released. This provides funding for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (S/THPOs), and competitive grant programs. These funds are critical for SHPOs and THPOs to carry out their federally mandated duties.

The delay’s impact continues to grow more dire as multiple SHPOs have now been forced lay off staff. This means National Register nominations, Determinations of Eligibility, Federal Agency consultation, Section 106 review, and Historic Tax Credit projects are all at risk of slowing down or ending entirely. This puts historic places at risk and threatens to halt preservation projects nationwide.

Further compounding the immediate threat, President Trump’s proposed FY26 budget nearly eliminates the HPF entirely. As we prepare to recognize the 250th anniversary of the nation in 2026, we should be recommitting to preserving the places that tell America’s story- this proposal does the opposite.

We need your help!

Congress needs to hear from preservation advocates! We urge you to keep up your advocacy and reach out to your members of Congress .Ask them to:

• Help facilitate the immediate disbursement of congressionally-approved FY25 Historic Preservation Fund funding.
• Support necessary and robust funding for the Historic Preservation Fund in FY26.

If you have a contact in your Representative or Senator’s office, use the sample letter and one-pager to 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). 

We’ve also made it easy for you to take action! Easily personalize and send a letter to your members of Congress today! Please also share this alert with your networks.

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Additional Resources:

NCSHPO: Historic Preservation Under Threat

NCSHPO: No Sign of HPF Funds

Preservation Action: FY26 DOI Senate Appropriations Testimony

Coalition Letter to Secretary Burgum on HPF Funding Delay

FY26 House HPF Dear Colleague Letter

FY26 Senate HPF Dear Colleague Letter

In the face of proposed cuts to the Historic Preservation Fund, 80 bipartisan Representatives and Senators — representing 29 different states and territories — signed on to the FY2026 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Dear Colleague letters. Scroll down to see the names of each signer, and be sure to thank them if your Representative or Senators is one of them!

The House letter and Senate letter both requested $225 million in funding for the Historic Preservation Fund, the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. $225M includes much-needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices as well as critically important competitive grant programs. Specifically, the requested funding levels for the HPF include:

• $70 million for State Historic Preservation Offices
• $40 million for Save America’s Treasures
• $34 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices
• $28 million for the African American Civil Rights grant program
• $17 million for Paul Bruhn grants
• $13 million for HBCU preservation grants
• $11 million for the Semiquincentennial grant program
• $7 million for the History of Equal Rights Grant program
• $5 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants

The letters also noted the urgent need to reauthorize the Historic Preservation Fund. The House letter was led by the co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM), while the Senate letter was again led by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). The letters were submitted to the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee last month and show substantial support for the Historic Preservation Fund.

Thank you to everyone that reached out to their members of Congress and urged them to sign on in support of a record funding for the Historic Preservation Fund. Preservation Action would especially like to thank Reps. Turner and Leger Fernandez and Sens. Gillibrand and Cassidy for their efforts on these letters and continued leadership on historic preservation!

Did your Representative and Senators sign-on? Be sure to thank them for their vocal support of historic preservation! Below are the list of signers organized by state.

U.S House Members

U.S Senators

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 make a difference.

1. 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. 

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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). 

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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!

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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!

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 the FY26 Dear Colleague Letter 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!

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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!

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