NHA Legislative Issues

Key Issue Areas

The National Humanities Alliance monitors and takes action on a variety of legislative, judicial and regulatory issues impacting work in the humanities. Following are the key issue areas covered by NHA:

1. Funding for the Humanities

NHA monitors and advocates for federal funding for the humanities in a variety of areas, including: research, education, preservation and access, and public programs. The lead federal agency in this area is the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The NHA monitors several other federal budgets, including the Library of Congress, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and select programs of the Department of Education.

Click here for current information on NEH funding, authorization, and advocacy.

2. Copyright and Intellectual Property

NHA monitors and takes action on proposed changes to intellectual property law with the twin goals of promoting the free exchange of ideas AND protecting the economic interests of copyright holders. The scholarly community is comprised of both users and creators of intellectual property, and NHA supports a balanced approach to copyright law and other forms of intellectual property protection. NHA vigorously supports scholarly access to information and legal implementation of the fair use doctrine in all media.

Click here for current information on pending changes in copyright law, proposed legislation to extend database protection, and related issues.

3. Regulatory Issues

NHA monitors and takes action on a variety of regulatory matters, including regulations impacting federally funded research in the humanities and tax policy impacting nonprofit organizations.

4. Freedom of Expression

The National Humanities Alliance monitors and takes action on issues impacting freedom of expression in scholarly work. NHA opposes censorship or other means of limiting intellectual inquiry.

5. Government Information

The National Humanities Alliance monitors and takes action on government regulations and behavior to ensure preservation of and broad scholarly access to information.

6. Humanities Data

The National Humanities Alliance monitors and supports efforts to collect and maintain data that can help to inform educators, administrators, policy makers and others concerned with the state of the humanities. NHA recognizes humanities data collection as an area which has fallen far behind other sectors and is in need of significant improvement.

Position Statements

An archive of formal NHA policy statements can be accessed from the "Position Statements" section of the NHA web site. The archive includes written statements in the form of congressional testimony, judicial briefs and other correspondence regarding federal policy or legislation impacting work in the humanities.