Federal:
The Trump Administration’s proposed elimination of (which was later amended to a 90% cut to) IMLS funding for FY18 may not be realized. House appropriations committees voted on July 13 and July 19 for level funding of IMLS in FY18. Funding for additional library programs, namely the Library Services and Technology Act and Innovative Approaches to Literacy, are expected to remain stable, as well. The House Appropriations Committee also approved a $20 million increase in funding for the NLM, to $413.9 million for FY18. House and Senate appropriations votes likely won’t occur until the fall, in September or later. Read more about ALA’s Fight for Libraries! campaign.
Following up on the Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality, which took place July 12, 2017, read comments submitted to the FCC by ALA.
Legislative debate continues on replacing or simply repealing the Affordable Care Act. Congress so far has been unable to reach a critical mass of support for either action. Senator John McCain’s recent diagnosis of brain cancer will likely further slow congressional action on the healthcare debate. This recent news article from Reuters provides a current report.
State:
If you feel like letting your state legislators know that you appreciate their work to pass the recent budget, here is some advice along with letter templates from the Illinois Health and Hospital Association: http://www.ihatoday.org/uploadDocs/1/statebudgetthankyou.pdf
New Under the Dome podcast available from the State Journal-Register: https://soundcloud.com/user-735325102/tracks