Author: Carmen Howard

Federal The House Appropriations Committee has approved a proposed 15% cut to the only federal library funding agency. This budget will be presented to the full House before the end of the year, so now is the time to urge representatives to take a strong stance against it. Tell Congress to stop the cuts to…

Federal In response to a lack of Federal legislation on Artificial Intelligence, senators introduced a bipartisan bill on June 11, 2024, the Promoting Responsible Evaluation and Procurement to Advance Readiness for Enterprise-wide Deployment for Artificial Intelligence Act (“PREPARED for AI Act”). Among other things, PREPARED for AI would provide a risk mitigation framework that would…

Federal The Supreme Court is deliberating on Idaho and Moyle, et al. v. United States after hearing oral arguments on April 24, 2024. The Idaho politicians who brought this case before the SCotUS hope to circumvent a federal statute — the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) — to arrest clinicians for providing pregnant…

Federal Artificial Intelligence Although Artificial Intelligence has received Federal scrutiny, states are pulling ahead in the effort to legislate the use/misuse of AI. Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Law Firm, Husch Blackwell, has assembled and summarized most of the proposed bills. For more insights into the need for federal input, read their February analysis: https://www.huschblackwell.com/newsandinsights/will-federal-initiatives-stave-off-disparate-state-level-regulation-of-artificial-intelligence Reproductive…

State The Illinois Library Association is currently monitoring several bills moving through the state legislature. Visit https://www.ila.org/advocacy/illinois-legislative-issues/legislative-issues/bill-monitoring to see the full list. There are also some general medical legislative items that we may see at the reference desk:

Federal In October, the White House published the “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: Making Automated Systems Work for the American People”. This is NOT a legal document, but is a strong indicator of which elements of artificial intelligence will be prioritized for policy making. On November 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health…

Federal News Several pending Supreme Court cases could negatively impact healthcare and scientific progress. In particular, they could restrict access to abortions, limit funds for preventative care, and hinder the ability to update policies according to new research. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/05/supreme-court-cases-health-care-00119996 Illinois NewsAs part of the new ‘Ban Books Bans” law (Public Act 103-0100) certain procedural or…

Illinois NewsIllinois and Secretary of State Giannoulias continue to make national headlines over book bans legislation. Most recently, Sec. Giannoulias testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 12th. You can watch a recording of his testimony or read the uncorrected closed captioning by visiting the C-SPAN website. Federal News The United States Copyright Office…

Federal Did you know that the Medical Library Association’s Public Policy Center has a Censorship and Library Practices Toolkit? The toolkit is available to everyone whether you are an MLA member or not, and it contains links to resources to help you keep track of legislation. You can download the toolkit here. State Governor Pritzker…

Federal The American Library Association, Association of American Publishers, American Booksellers Association, and the Authors Guild are asking for organizations and individuals to recommit to the Freedom to Read Statement (first written 70 years ago.) To read the statement, sign the document, or get more information, visit https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/freedomtoread/. Illinois Public Act 103-0167 (previously House Bill…