Category: Legislation

State: The soon-to-be Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, has announced a temporary website. He is using this site to keep us informed of his plans as he gets ready to take office on January 9. He is also asking for input from us. You can “Share Your Ideas with Alexi” by visiting here.

Federal **Primarily related to school librarians, but may be of interest to all. Right to Read Act (S. 5064; H.R. 9056) introduced by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-03) Information about the Right To Read Act: ALA applauds new school library legislation to widen access for students nationwide (ALA News, 10/6/2022) Right…

Federal – October is National Medical Librarian’s Month (NMLM)! Learn more about the 2022 theme, “Make Better Decisions Faster: Consult Your Health Information Professional” at the MLAConnect website, download the 2022 graphic to post in your library, and find email signatures you can incorporate into every message you send! U.S. House of Representatives passes the…

Federal White House requests $22.4B in COVID-19 funding, $3.9B in monkeypox funding (The Hill, 9/2/22) White House requires immediate public access to all U.S.-funded research papers by 2025 (Science, 8/26/22); see also Office of Science and Technology Policy public access memo (8/25/22) and Breakthroughs for All: Delivering Equitable Access to America’s Research (OSTP blog, 8/25/22)…

Federal What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (passed in the Senate on 8/7/2022) (The Hill, 8/8/22): Health Care: Medicare can negotiate lower prices Drug costs can be capped but largely only for Medicare People enrolled in ACA plans get an extension on premium assistance. H.R.8351: Formula Act. Became public law 7/21/2022. Provides duty-free…

Federal Insulin Copay Cap Passes House Hurdle, But Senate Looks for a Broader Bill (KHN, April 4, 2022) U.S. Bills would make it easier to study health effects of marijuana (Science, April 12, 2022) From the ALA Public Policy & Advocacy Office: Unite Against Book Bans, a national initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand…

Federal H.R.1667 — 117th Congress (2021-2022) Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (became Public Law No: 117-105 (03/18/2022) This bill establishes grants and requires other activities to improve mental and behavioral health among health care providers. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must award grants to hospitals, medical professional associations, and…

Federal FDA: Class I recall of Empowered Diagnostics COVID-19 Tests (U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 1/28/2022) Senate Finance leaders outline mental health legislative timeline (Roll Call, 2/8/2022)   Illinois A few bills the ILA is currently following: HB4470 – Access Electronic Literature and its Senate counterpart SB3167 HB4005 – FOIA-Response-Format of Data HB4758 – Broadband Access…