The Illinois General Assembly just concluded its Spring 2014 session. A number of pieces of legislation affecting libraries, especially in terms of funding, were on the schedule. Among them were the following:
House Bill 3793-funds capital appropriations for projects at specific libraries
House Bill 3796-amends the Freedom of Information Act to allow individuals requesting large amounts of information from a public body to receive that information more quickly
House Bill 4207-imposes restrictions on cyberbullying (ILA opposes because of possibility for censorship of online comments by students in almost any forum)
House Bill 6095-provides grant appropriations for libraries, based on Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s recommended funding levels
Senate Bill 1941-creates the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act, which standardizes the format of legal material that is made available online, including ensuring that the materials are as complete as possible and that an electronic version can be preserved
Senate Bill 3071-amends the Illinois Local Library Act and the Public Library Act of 1991, to allow for libraries not to have to accept the lowest bid for a project, if the overall cost of the project is greater than $20,000 and the bid amount wouldn’t meet the library’s requirements for providing quality services All of these bills were passed by both houses, but the legislation still awaits the Governor’s approval.
Also, at this point, the formal state budget is still a work in progress. The General Assembly has approved a $35.7 billion operating budget. As the funding levels stand now, however, at least $2 billion in funding originally slated for FY 2015 will be pushed ahead to future fiscal years. Even with that funding not included in the current version of the budget, there will still be almost $200 million in cuts to such health-related issues as home services, child care, and programs for the elderly.
For more information on the ILGA’s activities during the Spring 2014 session, please check out this story in the ILA newsletter.