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…
Category: Legislation
For news about legislative activity relevant to librarianship. Not for news about or from the HSLI Legislative Committee.
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…
Key Legislative Issues in 114th U.S. Congress
The American Library Association’s Washington, D.C., office has identified the following issues affecting libraries as being especially crucial during the 114th session of Congress (2015-2017). Appropriations – Maintain level funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) in the FY 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill Copyright –…
Library Referenda in Illinois During 2014
During the 2014 election cycle, a number of referenda affecting Illinois libraries were placed on the ballot. The purpose of most referenda impacting libraries in Illinois and elsewhere is to increase the number of people who have access to library services. Library access is an especially critical issue in Illinois, since approximately one million of…
Federal Budget Passes–Government Shutdown Averted
The United States Senate just passed this year’s $1.1 trillion budget, by a vote of 56 to 40. (The budget still has to be signed into law by the President.) While it is not entirely clear what impact the budget, as a whole, will have on libraries, one thing is certain: there will be an…
Funding Increase for Providing Internet Access
On December 11, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) voted to raise fees on phone users, by about $2.00 per year, in order to increase funding for the E-Rate program. The program provides Internet access to schools in impoverished areas. Currently, annual funding for E-rate is about $2.4 billion; the fee increase will raise funding levels…