Send a Quick Email : : Help Save
Library Budget Funding
by Mike Dillon & Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
As we reported in our “News From the Capitol” yesterday,
the 2015-16 State Budget that is scheduled to be taken up for a vote in the
Senate and Assembly on Monday, June 15, contains an important level of new
funding for public libraries. However,
there is no guarantee that Governor
Brown will support a specific portion of the additional funding when he
acts on the Budget bill in the coming days, as the Governor is trying to hold
the line on increased spending commitments.
CLA is requesting your help! Please email a quick note to the Governor’s
office in support of maintaining the library funding in the state Budget.
Please take a moment today to help
protect the library funding that CLA and a large bi-partisan coalition of
legislators worked so hard to incorporate into this year’s Budget. When the Budget bill heads to the Governor’s
desk next week, he will have until
June 30 to accept or to “blue pencil” various funding line items.
You may email the Governor’s office
to express your support for the library funding in the Budget by using the
following steps:
2)
Click on the red “Contact”
tab at the top of the homepage.
3)
Where it indicates- send an email, fill in the bubble: “Have
comment.”
4)
Enter your name and email address.
5)
Using the drag-down options, choose:
“Budget proposal 2015-16” (near the
top of the list of options).
6)
Click the button that says, “pro” regarding your position.
7)
Write either:
a) the text
suggested below or
b) your own version, in the box provided on the Governor’s
webpage and click “submit.”
Suggested text:
RE:
FUNDING FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES – 2015-16 BUDGET BILL: AB 93
Dear Governor Brown,
Thank you for including much needed
funding for public libraries in your May Revision of the State Budget. The funding you have identified for literacy
and broadband connections will be extremely valuable to public libraries
throughout the state. As you prepare to
review the Budget bill that is being sent to your desk, I would also like to
request your support for the additional funding for the public libraries that
was approved as part of the “Conference Committee Compromise.”
The additional $2.5 million for
broadband connection grants will expedite high-speed broadband connectivity for
a significant amount of library branches and the $4 million for the California
Library Services Act will help to reimburse libraries for their willingness to
share books and materials among each other – ensuring an equity of access for
all California library patrons.
Thank you for your consideration of
these matters as you are reviewing the Budget bill in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Name
(Library, group, etc.)
Note:
If you would rather phone the
Governor’s office, you may do so at (916) 445-2841 and you may choose the
prompt #4 where you will speak to a representative. That representative will log your comments.
If you would rather fax a letter to
the Governor’s office, you may do so at (916) 558-3160.
