Category: Legislation

Federal: Bills promoting open access to federally funded research and electronic communications privacy have been introduced in Congress. Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act, or FASTR, H.R. 3427, would provide public access to research published from every federal agency that significantly funds research. This bill strengthens and expands previous legislation, requiring online access…

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…

On July 12, 2017, ALA is joining almost 200 organizations in a Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality in response to the FCC’s vote to roll back net neutrality regulations established in 2015. Resources to participate in the Day of Action are available from ALA’s website. You can also send an email to the…

Federal: The American Health Care Act of 2017 is still under debate. Recent news coverage explores the costs of health care. Read this story on premiums and beyond from Politico, and look at this opinion piece comparing health-care spending across ten countries, including the U.S., from Bloomberg View. Continuing the discussion surrounding the authority of appointing the Register…

Federal: Curious about what’s on the table with the American Health Care Act of 2017? The act narrowly passed in the House on May 4, 2017, with a vote of 217 – 213. Now, Republicans in the Senate have hopes to get a health care bill passed by July 4. Read about H.R. 1628 AHCA…

Federal News: Recently, both medical and library professional associations made statements regarding federal funding. The Medical Library Association (MLA) and Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) recommended funding the NLM at levels of at least $412.1 million in FY18. Their justifications for these recommendations are outlined in this Statement, submitted to the Senate Subcommittee on…

Federal: National Library Legislative Day is right around the corner: May 1-2, 2017. Registration to participate in the Virtual Library Legislative Day is open! You’ll be emailed a reminder and talking points on May 1. Sign up today. Many library supporters contacted their House representatives over the past few weeks to encourage the signing of…

Federal: Updates to the FCC privacy rules approved under the Obama administration in October 2016 were repealed last week in Congress. The new resolution allows internet service providers to collect user information and sell it to advertisers without having to obtain the user’s consent. Suggestions to aid librarians in protecting their patrons’ privacy may be…

A “Dear Colleague” letter is being circulated by Reps. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Peter King (R-N.Y.), and Susan Davis (D-Calif.) to support funding the NIH (at least $2 billion above the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 enacted level) for FY18. As reported in yesterday’s HSLI legislative blog post, the proposed FY18 budget would decrease NIH funding 18%,…