State Budget Deal Includes
A Cut To CA
Library Services Act
CLA
News: 6.24.2020 by Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
On June 15th, the 2020-21 State Budget
bill, SB 74, was approved by both the Assembly and Senate and was subsequently
sent to Governor Newsom for his action. SB 74 seeks to close a projected $54
billion Budget deficit while still retaining protections for “safety net”
programs and K-12 education.
However, due to the abbreviated
legislative session, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the Senate and
Assembly were not able to secure an official “deal” with the Governor relative
to the State Budget before they sent the main Budget bill down to him.
Negotiations between the two Democrat Leaders and the Governor over the weekend
were successful and a new, supplemental agreement was reached over the last few
days.
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Unfortunately, despite our best
attempts, the legislature and the Governor are making a cut to the California
Library Services Act in the amount of $1.75 million, which will leave $1.88
million in the baseline for the program. This cut is not tied to the “trigger”
as best as we can tell. We have attempted to get clarification of this action
but it appears the $1.75 million would not be restored under the trigger
package in Budget trailer bills, AB 89 and SB 121. (The CLSA reduction appears
in the main Budget bill, SB 74.)
The Senate Budget Committee convened
late this afternoon to begin processing 20 so-called “Budget trailer bills”
that implement the terms of the new deal with the Governor. The Committee will
be working late into the evening tonight and then the full Senate and Assembly
will vote on the bills by this Friday.
The legislature will not know what the
state’s true fiscal condition will be until California receives the July 15 tax
receipts, and there will likely be Budget clean-up items that need to be
considered by the legislature in August. In the meantime, the California Library
Association Legislative Committee, Chaired by Carol Frost and Scott Love,
will be meeting to discuss the development of a grassroots campaign which would
seek to restore the CLSA cut if state revenues improve. READ
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