The following memo was written by David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and sent to all employees of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. You will note that it paints a rather gloomy picture:
We have received guidance from the Office of Management and Budget on funding targets for the FY 2012 budget. As you may have read in the press, the Administration is requiring significant reductions in agency budgets. In an effort to reduce the deficit, the Administration is asking non-security discretionary funded agencies such as NARA to reduce spending. This guidance will apply to all NARA budget accounts: Operating Expenses, Office of Inspector General, Electronic Records Archives, Repairs and Restoration, and National Historical Publications and Records Commission Grants. There are several funding targets we must meet in preparing the budget:
If all these reductions are accepted, NARA could be reduced a total of $65.2 million (14.2 percent) below the FY 2011 President's Budget request. Please remember that these are the guidelines for preparing the budget. Agencies were also told to submit critical new initiatives and recommend programs to "add back " to their funding levels. While we anticipate the NARA budget may be reduced by a significant amount, we do not anticipate facing a worst case situation. The Administration is challenging us to prioritize our programs and make sure that we are placing our resources against our mission critical needs. If you would like to read the memos, here are the links
- Reduce FY 2012 spending by $41.7 million. This is a 9.1 percent decrease from the FY 2011 President's Budget request.
- Submit a budget scenario that reduces agency funding by an additional $23. 5 million.
- Identify 5 significant program terminations, reductions and administrative savings to reduce agency costs.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-19.pdfNARA, like other Federal agencies, faces a huge challenge in meeting the FY 2012 funding targets. We look for your support this summer as we question and evaluate our program operations. We want to hear from you! What ideas do you have to make NARA a more efficient organization? How can we reduce costs but still get our critical mission accomplished? In order to gather your thoughts, we will be using IdeaScale, a social networking tool, which allows users to make suggestions and vote on the ideas submitted by others. Stay tuned for more details on this initiative. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-20.pdf
DAVID S. FERRIERO
Archivist of the United States
