Federal:
Gathering in Washington, DC in late June 2016, the Joint MLA/AAHSL Legislative Task Force met with representatives. Key talking points included requesting: an increase in 2017 appropriations (at least $395.1M for NLM and $34.5B for NIH), delay of action on proposed copyright law legislation until the new Librarian of Congress has been confirmed, and support of the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act of 2015, among other issues. More on this story is available from the MLA Public Policy Center.
Both House and Senate appropriations bills include increased 2017 funding for the NLM. The House bill allocates $403,086,000; the Senate bill, $412,097,000. The House calls for coordination between HHS agencies in conveying scientific information to the community and providers. The Senate indicates approximately 1% of funds ($4M) is to be used for enhancing information systems. Read more at the MLA Public Policy Center.
State:
The Illinois Press Association (IPA) has released an Official Statement on recently published regional ‘newspapers’. IPA cautions readers that technology has made it easier to publish and therefore more difficult to distinguish between actual news and political propaganda. The IPA lists some specific titles in their statement.