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
- Mark DeSaulnier (CA)
- Judy Chu (CA)
- Jimmy Gomez (CA)
- Jared Huffman (CA)
- Mike Thompson (CA)
- Diana DeGette (CO)
- Joe Neguse (CO)
- Brittany Pettersen (CO)
- Joe Courtney (CT)
- Jim Himes (CT)
- Jahana Hayes (CT)
- John Larson (CT)
- Darren Soto (FL)
- Sanford Bishop (GA)
- Earl ‘Buddy’ Carter (GA)
- Lucy McBath (GA)
- Bill Foster (IL)
- Nikki Budzinski (IL)
- Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia (IL)
- Darin LaHood (IL)
- Danny Davis (IL)
- Jan Schakowsky (IL)
- André Carson (IN)
- Sharice Davids (KS)
- Stephen Lynch (MA)
- James McGovern (MA)
- Richard Neal (MA)
- William Keating (MA)
- Jamie Raskin (MD)
- Angie Craig (MN)
- Kelly Morrison (MN)
- Ilhan Omar (MN)
- Kimberlyn King-Hinds (MP)
- Teresa Leger Fernández (NM) | co-lead
- Dan Goldman (NY)
- Paul Tonko (NY)
- Ritchie Torres (NY)
- Jerrold Nadler (NY)
- Michael Turner (OH) | co-lead
- Mike Carey (OH)
- Greg Landsman (OH)
- Summer Lee (PA)
- Brendan Boyle (PA)
- Rob Bresnahan (PA)
- Brian Fitzpatrick (PA)
- Chrissy Houlahan (PA)
- Greg Casar (TX)
- Lloyd Doggett (TX)
- Joaquin Castro (TX)
- Gerald Connolly (VA)
- Jennifer McClellan (VA)
- Robert ‘Bobby’ Scott (VA)
- Don Beyer (VA)
- Stacey Plaskett (VI)
- Rick Larsen (WA)
- Adam Smith (WA)
- Suzan Delbene (WA)
- Kim Schrier (WA)
- Marilyn Strickland (WA)
- Gwen Moore (WI)
U.S Senators
- Alex Padilla (CA)
- Michael Bennet (CO)
- Richard Blumenthal (CT)
- Tammy Duckworth (IL)
- Bill Cassidy, M.D. (LA) | co-lead
- Edward J. Markey (MA)
- Chris Van Hollen (MD)
- Angus King (ME)
- Elissa Slotkin (MI)
- Tina Smith (MN)
- Amy Klobuchar (MN)
- Cory Booker (NJ)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) | co-lead
- Ron Wyden (OR)
- Jack Reed (RI)
- Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
- Mark Warner (VA)
- Tim Kaine (VA)
- Bernie Sanders (VT)
- Peter Welch (VT)