George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Jeb Bush stand together for a photo. (Getty Images)
As a result, NARA is in the process of negotiating with each presidential foundation on an individual basis so they can take greater ownership of the operational responsibilities for their specific library, Jim Byron, senior advisor to the archivist, told Fox News Digital.
"Despite decades of well-intentioned oversight and stewardship of America’s presidential libraries by the National Archives, reality now dictates that operational changes can and should be made to ensure the long-term health of these American treasures," Byron said in a statement to Fox News Digital Monday.
"Presidential libraries have grown in scope and purpose, and with that growth — and with anticipated future additions to the system — comes increased expenditures to be borne by the American taxpayers."
NARA spends $91 million annually on presidential libraries from appropriations, and the deferred maintenance costs across the entire library system total roughly $123 million.
Under current negotiations that launched in the spring between NARA and the presidential foundations, shifting some of the costs to the presidential foundations is expected to save NARA $27 million. These funds will then be shifted toward NARA’s primary mission of preserving and sharing records, including digitizing and releasing more files, Byron said.
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Former President Barack Obama is pictured next to construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images; Reuters/Vincent Alban)
The presidential library structure varies, and NARA and each presidential foundation have their own separate public-private agreements. Typically, though, private funds are used to create a presidential library, which NARA then oversees using federal funding.
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But this isn’t always the case. For example, the Obama Foundation is an entirely private entity and did not choose to construct a library for NARA to store documents, instead opting to build a private presidential center and private museum. As a result, NARA digitized and stored Obama presidential records at an existing NARA site and still oversees preserving and providing access to those records.
Previous efforts to revamp the funding partnership between government and private entities successfully occurred in 2018, when NARA coordinated with each presidential foundation to discuss which operations it could take on amid increased budget constraints. Ultimately, those negotiations led to NARA and the George W. Bush Foundation securing a new deal splitting operational costs.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/taxpayers-hook-lawn-care-fixing-hinges-presidential-libraries-trump-led-reforms-aim-stop