[Conntech] Initial 2008 Legislative Session Wrap-up

[Moran, Michael J]

(please excuse cross-postings)

The CONNECTICUT LIBRARY ASSOCIATION's Legislative Committee is happy to
share a report (below) from CLA's new lobbyist, Bobby Shea, on the
legislative session that ended last week.

As you know from the media, the General Assembly ended up making no
changes in the current state budget, since next year (FY2009) is the
second year of the biennial budget they adopted last year.  This means
no budget increases in any statewide library programs but also no
reduction, as originally proposed by the Governor (later restored in the
Appropriations Committee budget), in the Connecticut Library
Consortium's budget.  We join Bobby in thanking all of you who worked so
hard with your local legislators to promote CLA's legislative agenda
this year, and we encourage you to thank them for their support during
this session.  We'll notify you soon about our June meeting, when we'll
begin planning our agenda for the Spring 2009 session, which Bobby
anticipates will be a challenging one for all of us who depend on state
funding.

For more information, or if you have any questions, contact either
co-chair of the Legislative Committee: 
Mike Moran (Asnuntuck Community College, 170 Elm Street, Enfield 06082;
860-253-3171; mmoran at acc.commnet.edu)
&
Peter Ciparelli (Public Library of New London, 63 Huntington Street, New
London 06320; 860-447-1411; peterc at lioninc.org)

**************************************************************
Dear CLA Friends:
I really enjoyed my first legislative session working with you folks!
And I think that we had some great success together.
1. We all worked very hard and we were able to persuade the Education
Subcommittee (Fleischmann, Maynard, Chapin, Nafis, etc.) of the
Appropriations Committee to restore the FY09 full-funding to the
Cooperative Library Service Program, thereby rejecting Governor Rell's
proposed $50,000 cut. In fact, when the Appropriations Committee
approved their proposed budget adjustments for FY09, the Committee's
narrative stated: "The Connecticut Library Consortium is a statewide
membership collaborative serving all types of Connecticut libraries by
initiating and facilitating cost-effective services, creating and
supporting educational and professional development, and helping
libraries to strengthen their ability to serve their users . . . Funding
for Support of Cooperative Library Service Units is maintained at
$350,000 in FY09 as the CLSU's provide cost efficient services." This is
good stuff!
2. House Bill 5790 - An Act Concerning the Internet and the Protection
of Children. Early in the session, we appropriately flagged this bill as
it contained some problematic provisions for Connecticut's libraries. We
quickly proposed some amendments to the legislation, which were well
received by Speaker Amann's attorneys. House Bill 5790 did not make it
out of the Judiciary Committee upon referral in April, but Speaker
Amann's lawyers remained interested in reviving the proposal by way of a
floor amendment. Ultimately, the floor amendment was never called, but
we remained ready for action on this issue! We should be prepared to see
this proposal (or a similar proposal) during the 2009 Legislative
Session.
3. Senate Bill 465: An Act Establishing an Adult Literacy Board. This
bill passed in the Legislature and is expected to be signed into law by
Governor Rell, to take effect on July 1, 2008. We were successful in
persuading Senator Hartley and Rep. Willis (the Co-chairs of the Higher
Ed and Employment Advancement Committee) to amend the bill to add the
State Librarian or his designee as an ex-officio member of the board
created in section 2(a)(2) this legislation. In addition, in section
2(a)(1), a representative of a public library is to be appointed by the
Director of the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, Attorney Maryann
Hanley. 
4. During the next couple of weeks, I will continue to send you copies
of other public acts that may be of interest to CLA members. 
5. Let's get together soon to discuss future strategy. Go CLA!!
Peace, Bobby Shea 
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