roundtable: Senate Subcommittee votes to kill NTIA, TIIAP

roundtable: Senate Subcommittee votes to kill NTIA, TIIAP

Senate Subcommittee votes to kill NTIA, TIIAP

Andrew Blau (blau@benton.org)
Thu, 7 Sep 1995 20:20:48 -0400 

Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 20:20:48 -0400
Message-Id: <v02110102ac74f4be7c91@[204.245.149.6]>
To: benton-compolicy@cdinet.com, roundtable@cni.org,
From: Andrew Blau <blau@benton.org>
Subject: Senate Subcommittee votes to kill NTIA, TIIAP


Earlier today (Sept. 7), a Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations
Committee voted to cut the Commerce Department's FY 1996 budget from 
the $4.154 billion the Department had in FY 1995 to $2.899 billion, 
a 30% reduction.  As part of those cuts, the Subcommittee voted to 
eliminate the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration (NTIA), saving only NTIA's spectrum allocation function 
and the Public Telecommunications and Facilities Program (PTFP).  The 
move would eliminate the Telecommunications and Information 
Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP), the grants program that 
has supported nonprofit as well as state and local government 
applications of information technology.

In addition, the Subcommittee moved to rescind any money that has yet 
to be spent from TIIAP's current budget (FY 95), which threatens the 
grants process that is now close to completion.  While review of the 
proposals submitted earlier this year is finished, final decisions 
have not yet been made and the approximately $35 million slated for 
grants has not been disbursed.  The Subcommittee's action, if approved 
by the full Committee and made part of the final bill that goes to the 
President's desk, would eliminate these funds.

Benton will post additional information about full Committee 
consideration and subsequent actions as it becomes available.  For 
additional background on TIIAP funding for 1995 and the House 1996 
appropriations for the Commerce Department, check our web site 
(http://cdinet.com/cgi-bin/lite/Benton/) in the "what's going on" 
section.

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  Andrew Blau                                             blau@benton.org
  Director
  Communications Policy Project                  http://cdinet.com/benton
  Benton Foundation
  1634 Eye St., NW, 12th Fl.                             202.638.5770 (v)
  Washington, DC  20006                                  202.638.5771 (f)

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