House GOP appropriators released their Interior-Environment spending bill for FY 2024 on July 13 that would slash overall spending by 35 percent, yielding a nearly 23 percent cut to the Department of Interior from FY 2023 enacted levels.

The Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) also suffered a significant reduction of 14 percent from FY 2023 enacted levels from $204.5 million to $174.5 million.

It’s important to note that most of that reduction is represented by an elimination of Congressionally Directed Spending, or earmarks, from the HPF budget line and that most programs within the HPF are level funded.

The full House Appropriations Committee passed this bill on July 19, and it will soon head to the House floor for a full vote in that chamber.

Attention now turns to the Senate to release its version of the FY 2024 Interior spending bill.

We anticipate a higher spending level for the HPF out of the Senate and will keep the preservation community apprised of key opportunities to advocate for strong funding for historic preservation priorities.