2025 fiscal funds are yet to be released, and show no immediate sign of coming
In 1982, Ronald Reagan embarked on a crusade to increase the fiscal responsibility of the country with his first budget as president. In his discretionary budget, he slashed funding for social programs and cultural institutions. Among the programs on the chopping block was the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) — the pool of money used on an annual basis to fund State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) and millions of dollars in federal grants.
In response to what was an existential threat to their work, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) convened a meeting, in true preservationist fashion, at a historic home in Charleston, South Carolina. There, SHPOs from across the country discussed how to keep their offices open and their staff employed.
Nearly 45 years later, history is repeating itself. In May, President Donald Trump released his fiscal year 2026 discretionary budget — also called the “skinny budget.” In the name of fiscal responsibility, his administration proposes cutting $158 million from the HPF, leaving only $11 million, all of which is specifically allocated for the vital preservation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The cut would drain all federal funding for SHPOs and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs), as well as eliminate millions of dollars in federal grant programs, like Save America’s Treasures grants. In response, just like they did in 1982, NCSHPO gathered all of the state historic preservation officers in the country in May to assess the threat and discuss how best to move forward.
“It’s concerning,” Jeffrey Emidy, the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission (RIHPHC) said. “What they have proposed in the skinny budget for 2026 is very concerning.”
The slash comes just a year before the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, “which just seems antithetical when the HPF was founded in 1976 along with the bicentennial,” Erik Hein, the current executive director of NCSHPO, told PPS. “It just seems sad that 50 years later, some of us are questioning the value” of the national preservation program, he added.
Additionally concerning, as Emidy put it, is the fact that the HPF money for fiscal year 2025 has not yet been released, despite Congress appropriating $188.7 million for the fund before President Trump took office, according to Hein.
“The fact that we haven’t received the money right now isn’t abnormal,” Emidy said. He explained that every year, Congress appropriates the total amount of money for the HPF, which SHPOs and THPOs then apply for. Usually, the application is released sometime between January and March, and the funds dispersed a few months later. In March 2024, Congress appropriated $188.7 million to the HPF for that fiscal year. A Notice of Funding Opportunity was then sent to SHPOs and THPOs, and Emidy said that the RIHPHC received the funds in September of 2024, right as the fiscal year was ending.
“In a normal year, passing the budget takes time… it all depends on if Congress and the President are on board with each other, and how fast they can get the work done,” Emidy explained. “What is different this year is that we haven’t been assured that we’re going to get the funds [for 2025].”
There’s been no Notice of Funding Opportunity — again, despite Congress appropriating those funds — and no application for SHPOs and THPOs. Nearly slashing HPF funding in next year’s discretionary budget only adds to the disconcerting feeling among these state officers.
“We’re being told that the Notice of Funding Opportunity, which is necessary for states to be able to apply for their funding, has been submitted to [the Office of Management and Budget], but has not been approved,” Hein said. The Office of Management and Budget reports directly to the President.
Notably, the money for the HPF does not come from taxpayers; it comes from revenue generated through offshore oil and gas leases.
New England Preservation Officers React
As the first region in the country to be inhabited by English settlers, New England has a particularly long colonial history, resulting in a high number of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Between the number of individually listed sites and buildings in national historic districts, Rhode Island alone has more than 17,500 properties listed, according to the RIHPHC.
Connecticut also has thousands of properties listed, along with dozens of historic districts. Director of Operations at the Connecticut SHPO Jonathan Kinney said that their office is a little on edge.
“We are doing the best we can to plan, but there are a lot of unknowns right now,” he said. Roughly 60% of the Connecticut office’s operating budget comes from the federal government. Under federal law, state governments are required to match at least 40% of the funding provided by the federal government for SHPOs. Importantly, that match can be met in a variety of ways.
“Some states, their match is not in cash,” Hein explained. Those states may meet their 40% match, for example, by providing a certain number of volunteer hours. “States like that — that don’t provide any additional financial support — we just don’t know what [the SHPOs’] future might be.”
Kinney explained that of the 11 staff members in the Connecticut office, five are directly funded by the HPF. Those people do things like help write new National Register nominations and coordinate state and federal tax credits.
“Without that federal funding, and I don’t want to speculate on positions or jobs, but [it] would hamper or diminish our ability to provide those critical services to the people of Connecticut, as is our duty to do so,” Kinney said. For example, developers seeking assistance with historic tax credits may find their project timeline significantly slowed or see their costs increase, he explained.
In Maine, the sentiment is similar.
“We had to terminate seven contracts in May to get the money to keep the staff and make payroll,” Kirk Mohney, Director of the Maine SHPO, said. “Those projects ranged from work on the roof of a historic one-room school [to] the preparation of two National Register nominations in different parts of the state.”
Maine’s SHPO also has 11 staff members total, four of which are funded through the HPF.
“If the FY ’25 funds are not forthcoming in the near future, and if the program is unfunded in future budgets, the preservation program — at least in Maine — is going to look very different from what it’s looked like for decades,” Mohney said.
Other New England states are waiting for more clarity from the federal government before moving forward. In a statement to PPS, a preservation officer at the Vermont SHPO said that they are “closely monitoring the situation regarding federal funding of the HPF and will determine a path forward should these cuts occur.” The Massachusetts SHPO declined to comment without more clarity on the situation. As of publishing, the New Hampshire SHPO has not responded to PPS’s requests for comment.
In other regions, changes are already taking place. The Ohio SHPO, which is run by a non-profit organization but still receives HPF funding, laid off 12 people in mid-May — about one-third of their staff.
The RIHPHC is fortunate in some ways because the state government overmatches federal funding; only about 20% of its budget comes from the HPF, according to Deputy Director Joanna Doherty. (Doherty serves as an ex officio Trustee on PPS’s Board of Trustees, as suggested in the PPS by-laws.)
However, the RIHPHC is particularly vulnerable in other ways. Their office in the Old State House has been undergoing renovations, and the staff has been working remotely for nearly a year. Those renovations are being funded, in part, by hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from the HPF: A $500,000 Save America’s Treasures grant and a $750,000 Semiquincentennial grant. The former is matched by the State, which owns the building.
“If the money suddenly was indefinitely held up or cancelled completely, like has happened with grants through other federal agencies, who is on the hook to pay the contractors for the work they’ve done so far?” Emidy asked. As of publishing, the Governor’s Office has not responded to PPS’s requests for comment.
Doherty clarified that there hasn’t been any indication that the HPF grants funding the Old State House renovation are at risk, but with the current climate — seeing other organizations’ grants rescindedeven after projects have started — it’s still “nerve-wracking.” The Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) received a Save America’s Treasures grant in 2023 from the HPF and administered by the National Parks Service and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS). The grant of $650,000, to be used to restore their historic Wulitzer organ, was later rescinded by the federal government. More than 21 attorneys general, including the Rhode Island attorney general, sued the Trump administration in April after it attempted to shutter the IMLS and freeze grants distributed by the agency. PPAC confirmed to PPS that their grant has been reinstated, but did not wish to comment further.
PPS was also expecting to be awarded a federal Underrepresented Communities grant earlier this fiscal year to survey historical LGBTQ+ sites in Providence, with the goal of creating one or more new National Register nominations. Though we were notified that our application was approved in February, we never received a grant agreement, and assume at this point that the grant approval was rescinded.
Dwindling Support for Tribal Preservation Offices
Of the roughly $188.7 million appropriated to the Historic Preservation Fund in fiscal year 2025, about 12% was appropriated to Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs). These offices do not require matching grants, meaning that the elimination of the HPF could be catastrophic for some.
Unfortunately, THPOs have been seeing significant cuts to their federal funds for years. In 2009, the average THPO received about $80,000 from the HPF; 10 years later, that number was down to roughly $60,000.
By April 2024, there were more than 220 THPOs across the country, including one in Rhode Island — the Narragansett Indian Historic Preservation Office. As of publishing, their office has not responded to PPS’s requests for comment.
“As more tribes exercise the right to [create] a THPO, more have to share a bucket of money,” Hein explained. “It’s an unfortunate consequence of program success… and Congress has not seen the need to increase additional funding.”
Hein said that the amount of money appropriated for THPOs was increased a few years ago, so each office was being awarded about enough money to fund one full-time position. Since then, the total number of THPOs has continued to increase, meaning limited funds are spread across more offices once again.
Consultation on Federal and Federally Funded Projects
Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, SHPOs and THPOs are given the opportunity to assess and consult on federal or federally funded projects that may impact historic structures or spaces under their purview. Though these offices do not have the authority to approve or deny federal projects, they serve as an important voice in the process.
“If there’s a federal highway proposing an off-ramp that’s going to go through a historic battlefield, or result in the demolition of an 18th century building, or the disruption of an African American cemetery, who are you gonna call?” Hein asked. “What mechanism is going to enable your community to have a voice in that project, if not for the Section 106 process?”
The Trump administration has made an aggressive effort to deregulate a variety of sectors — the preservation sector has been no different. Earlier this year, he removed three members from the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, including the vice chair; prior to the removals, two members had also resigned from their positions. The number of vacancies left the Council unable to meet, according to the American Cultural Resources Association.
Of the nine seats on the Council, five are currently vacant, including the position of chairperson.
What Happens Next?
In 1982, when NCSHPO convened that meeting in North Carolina, how did they prevent the Reagan administration from defunding the national preservation program? Congress, which approves the federal budget, intervened. It happened during the Reagan administration, and it happened again when former President Barack Obama attempted to scale back a number of federal preservation grants in 2011 and 2012, including Save America’s Treasures grants.
“We’ve relied on Congress over the years to say, ‘you can’t cut that,’” Hein said.
The Connecticut, Maine, and Rhode Island SHPOs all mentioned they were in communication with their legislators to address both the withheld fiscal year 2025 funds and the lack of funding in the fiscal year 2026 budget. But Hein remains concerned.
“We’re dealing with an unpredictable Congress,” he said. “We want to make sure that they understand and recognize the importance of these funds, and that they do provide for them in the ’26 budget. Because if they don’t, then we really have fundamentally dismantled our national preservation program.”
“I’m still hopeful,” Kirk Mohney, from the Maine SHPO, said about the withheld funds for fiscal year 2025. “I still hold out hope that every day I come into the office and turn on the computer that the Notice of Funding Opportunity will be there and we can apply for funds.”
“It’s not clear that the Notice of Funding Opportunity isn’t coming — it’s just not here yet,” Jonathan Kinney from the Connecticut SHPO said. “With the ’26 funds… We’re certainly pushing and our partners at the federal level are advocating.”
The RIHPHC is encouraging people to reach out to their senators and representatives to vocalize support for the HPF, SHPOs, THPOs, and federal preservation grant funding.
“We rely on your voice to advocate for public investment in historic preservation at the state level and in every community across Rhode Island,” a recent press release from their office stated. “Ask [legislators] to urge the Office of Management and Budget to immediately release the Notice of Funding for the 2025 Historic Preservation Fund… and express your support for future HPF funding.”
You can find more information on preservation.ri.gov, and ncshpo.org.
By Keating Zelenke / Mary A. Gowdey Special Projects Fellow / kzelenke@ppsri.org
Note, June 11, 2025, 3:15 pm: This story has been updated to clarify that the Rhode Island SPHO received funds for FY 2024 in September 2024. Some SHPOs received their funds earlier.