The Governor’s proposed budget, which is intended to overcome a projected $6 billion budget deficit for FY 2016 (on top of a $1.6 billion deficit for the current fiscal year), includes $1.5 billion in cuts to Medicaid, making the program one of the main targets of the Governor’s cost-cutting efforts. The program currently covers more…
Author: Eric Edwards
Update to Legislative Alert for Illinois HB2689 (Mandatory Filters)
Two weeks ago, House Bill 2689–the Internet Screening in Public Libraries Act–was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly. The Act would require that all public libraries in the state put into place a “technology protection measure”, such as a filter, that would prevent library users from viewing material that could be construed as obscene or…
Legislative Alert–Illinois House Bill 2689 (Mandatory Filters)
House Bill 2689, the Internet Screening in Public Libraries Act, was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly on February 19. (So far, no action has been taken on the legislation since it was referred to the Rules Committee that same day.) The sponsor is Representative Peter Breen (Republican–48th District, Lombard), who just started his first…
Proposed Federal Budget for FY 2016 Released
Earlier this month, President Obama announced his priorities for the FY 2016 federal budget. Part of the budget is devoted to improving health care for Americans, through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and through other reforms. The specific areas being targeted, and the goals under each one, are listed below. Supporting Implementation of…
ILA Positions on Illinois Legislative Issues
The Illinois Library Association’s Executive Board has taken the following general positions on legislation that has already been introduced, or is likely to be introduced, during the current session of the Illinois General Assembly. –Opposes any legislation cutting funding, for counties and municipalities, that comes from the Local Government Distributive Fund –Is against legislation reducing…
House Makes Another Attempt to Repeal Obamacare
Yesterday (February 3), the United States House of Representatives made yet another attempt to start the process of repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. House Resolution 596 passed by a vote of 239 to 186, with the tally split almost entirely along party lines. (No Democrat voted for it, although three new Republican…
Legislative Alert–Proposed Amendment to Illinois Concealed-Carry Law
Yesterday, an amendment to the “Firearm Concealed Carry Act” was introduced by Representative Ed Sullivan, Jr. (Republican, 51st District-Mundelein), and the bill was referred to the Rules Committee this morning. The amendment would affect the section of the legislation covering the removal of a weapon from a vehicle, specifically if the vehicle is parked in…
Legislative Meet-Ups Reminder
With Governor Bruce Rauner having laid out his proposals for slashing spending by up to 20 percent, and with further cost-cutting measures likely to be unveiled in his “State of the State” speech on February 4, it is critical that library advocates act now to ensure that maintaining funding levels at an acceptable level is…
Illinois Budget Situation
With a new governor having taken office, the state’s budget situation-already precarious-could become more so, with the potential for many public institutions, among them libraries, to be hit especially hard. Governor Bruce Rauner has inherited a number of crises, including an ongoing operational deficit and a rising state pension debt, both of which have now…
Update on Affordable Care Act
This editorial from The Lancet has a nice overview of the issues that continue to be associated with implementing The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In particular, the piece focuses on how well the goals of the Affordable Care Act have been met. The main goal is to increase the number of Americans with health insurance. In that…