With a new governor having taken office, the state’s budget situation-already precarious-could become more so, with the potential for many public institutions, among them libraries, to be hit especially hard. Governor Bruce Rauner has inherited a number of crises, including an ongoing operational deficit and a rising state pension debt, both of which have now been exacerbated by the discontinuation of the state income-tax increase. With the projected loss in revenue, several billion dollars will have to be cut in order to balance the budget in FY 2015, which ends on June 30. Unless additional sources of funding can be located, it is likely that the cuts will be twice as large in FY 2016.
Governor Rauner has already laid out how he plans to bring spending within budget limits. His decision to cease funding for all non-essential services, which has already gone into effect, is likely just the first step. The Governor has warned state agencies that they should not expect to gain additional funding this fiscal year. If this change is applied universally, agencies may be forced to cut their spending by up to 20 percent.
At this point, it is not entirely clear to what extent library funding, particularly for statewide grants, will be affected, since services provided by the Secretary of State may not be directly impacted. Nonetheless, the potential for that agency to be hit by cuts elsewhere certainly exists. Beyond funding from grants, the broader sources of funding for libraries throughout the state will likely be affected if the broader institutions to which different libraries belong (colleges and universities, hospitals, school districts) are hit by cuts. Of particular concern at the K-12 level is Rauner’s support for charter schools, which are not required to have libraries. State funding for the proposed Obama Presidential Library–while perhaps not as much of an immediate concern–is another issue that bears watching.
Interestingly, Governor Rauner does have a history of philanthropic support for libraries, as evidenced by the $5 million donation that he and his wife made to his alma mater, Dartmouth College; the donation contributed to a $10 million renovation of Webster Hall, which was converted into a new library for the College’s special collections. (To read about the Rauner Special Collections Library’s latest acquisitions and other highlights of its holdings, check out the Library’s blog.) It will be interesting to see whether the Governor’s concern for a library at an Ivy League institution extends to those in the public sector or that receive substantial amounts of public funding.