State Aid - Budget Chairs Restore State Funding to Public Libraries to $21.2 Million

4/27/10
 
At midnight the House accepted a Senate offer to restore State Aid to Public Libraries to the current year level of $21.2 million.  When Senate Budget Chair J. D. Alexander made the offer, he asked if "the library guy" with the signs was in the room.  The library guy we all know is Paul Clark who has pretty much lived in the Capitol keeping the issue in front of legislators and the press for 6 weeks. Senator Alexander was disappointed that Paul wasn't there and said that other advocates could learn a lot from him.
 
There, working the issue until midnight were FLA lobbyist Chris Lyon, Small County Coalition coordinator Chris Doolan, and whole contingent from the Department of State including Secretary Kurt Browning, lobbyist Rivers Buford III, and John Boynton.  This group barely left the Capitol all weekend long.  Chris Doolan had a very positive impact for us, especially on Sunday morning. The folks from the Florida Association of Counties, and many county lobbyists have been working the issue aggressively as well.  The Salter/Mitchell PR folks distributed press releases for us at several critical junctures.  FLA's CapWiz wizard, Lisa Manners did an incredible job of keeping the message fresh and for generating over 60,000 messages in the last 6 weeks.  And nothing good happens at FLA without Executive Director Faye Roberts talents and effort.
 
Thanks to everyone for their incredible efforts and congratulations on the wonderful success!
 
Charlie Parker
Executive Director
Tampa Bay Library Consortium
Forida Dept. of State
State Library & Archives of Florida
 

State Aid  Advocacy Update

EMERGENCY!!
April 22, 2010

The House and Senate Budget Chairs just met and the Senate proposed $13,259,978 for State Aid to Public Libraries, down 37% from the current $21.2 million.  This is a cut of 60% since 2001.

§  Libraries will receive about 37% less from the state next fall

§  Federal funds will be cut by that amount in 2013

Call and e-mail these folks now and tell them about the harm this would do! And keep it positive!

Charlie –

State Aid  Advocacy Update
April 22, 2010

The House and Senate TED budget conferees met at 8:30 and nothing changed regarding State Aid to Public Libraries. The Senate is at $21.2 million and the House at $0.  It can never be characterized as good when a house has your issue at $0 but library advocates need to know that the House is trying hard to find a way to get State Aid Funded.  FLA Lobbyist Chris Lyon speaks several times daily with the House and Senate TED Chairs, Senator Fasano and Rep. Glorioso about how they intend to get State Aid funded.
 
The TED Conferees are scheduled to meet again at 10:30 but we are expecting no change at that time regarding State Aid and that it will be "bumped" to the House and Senate Budget Chairs - Senator Alexander and Rep. Rivera at 1 p.m.  The rationale for this is that the Budget Chairs have dollars that the TED conferees do not.
 
Contacts Keep Pouring In – And Members Are Talking About It – CapWiz traffic is just shy of 1,300 participants and 13,000 messages since noon on Tuesday and of course this doesn’t count folks who call or e-mail directly. We are just shy of 50,000 CapWiz messages since we cranked things up just before session began.

Budget Chairs Meet at 5:30 Today, April 22 – We should/may find out how we’re doing at that time.  We may be able to watch at http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/HouseCalendar/broadcast.aspx .

Charlie  Parker
Executive Director
Tampa Bay Library Consortium
Forida Dept. of State
State Library & Archives of Florida
 

State Aid  Advocacy Update
March 25, 2010
 
We have seen real progress but we do not have the  $21.2 million needed so there is much work ahead!!
 

You Are Making Progress! - Thursday afternoon the Senate Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means provided $15 million for State Aid to Public Libraries in the Senate budget.  We understand that efforts are underway behind the scenes in the House to get the full $21.2 million. Earlier the House budgeted $500,000 for State Aid to establish a budget  line so that it could be taken up during the conference process. It is clear you and the folks you have mobilized have been heard, that legislators and the leadership want to fund libraries, and that we have champions working hard for us during these challenging times.  We have seen real progress but we do not have the $21.2 million needed so  there is much work ahead!!

What Happens Next? - We need to continue our ongoing advocacy efforts knowing that we will have to make another big push during the appropriations conference committee  meetings.  The House and Senate will take their appropriations bills to the floor next week and they will probably announce their conference plans during the week of April 5th - 9th.  With the session scheduled to end April 30th, the appropriations process is much farther along than  in previous years and there is speculation that legislators will slow down after next week to give the public an opportunity to see what they  are proposing and react to it.
And Please, Please, Please Keep it Positive - These folks want to help us and your positive encouragement  gives them the justification they need!

Thank You!
Charlie  Parker
Executive Director
Tampa Bay Library Consortium
Forida Dept. of State
State Library & Archives of Florida