Representative Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO) recently introduced a bill (H.R. 1556) to reauthorize the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in the House. The bill would reauthorize the NHPRC at an annual level of $20 million for fiscal years (FY) 2010 – 2014. The current authorization expires in FY ’09 and set spending at a level of $10 million per-year, so this would be a significant funding increase if enacted.

A companion bill has yet to be introduced in the Senate.

In FY ’09 the NHPRC received $11.25 million in funding with $9.25 million for grants and $2 million for administrative expenses. The Obama administration’s FY 10 proposed budget will not be introduced until sometime in April, so there’s no sense as to how the NHPRC’s budget will fair.