May 30, 2014


TO:          CLA MEMBERS/ SYSTEMS/ NETWORK CONTACTS 

FROM:     Mike Dillon, CLA Lobbyist
                 Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyist

RE: News From the Capitol



On Thursday, the Senate and Assembly Leadership officially announced the eight conferees who will serve on this year’s Budget Conference Committee.  The powerful committee, consisting of 4 members in the Assembly and 4 members in the Senate, is tasked with reconciling the differences between the Assembly version of the Budget, the Senate version of the Budget, and the Governor’s January Budget and May Revision.  This group will begin meeting next week, and will convene daily until they complete their work.  The Constitution requires the legislature to approve and submit a Budget to the Governor by June 15th, so the conferees will be working expeditiously to meet that important deadline.  

As we recently reported, Assemblyman Mike Gatto and 13 members of the Assembly co-signed a letter, requesting that money be included in the Assembly version of the Budget for public library funding.  As a result of that effort and CLA’s lobbying, the Assembly version of the Budget contains $8 million for the California Library Services Act (CLSA) and $2 million for the state literacy program.  This new $10 million would be above and beyond the $1.8 million that is currently provided in the Budget for CLSA and the $2.8 million that is in the Budget for literacy.  This money would also be in addition to the funding provided by the Governor in his January Budget to connect all public libraries to a high-speed, broadband backbone operated by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California or “CENIC.”   

While the Assembly provided $10 million in their version of the Budget, the Senate did not take a similar action.  Thus, this issue must go to the Budget Conference Committee to be reconciled.  The Conference Committee may choose to adopt the Assembly version at $10 million, adopt the Senate version at $0, or adopt an amount in between these two numbers.  

Your Help Is Needed – Letters Requested!

Please take a minute today to write the members of the Budget Conference Committee and urge their support for:

“Adoption of the Assembly Version, Budget Item 6120-211-0001 ($8 million for the California Library Services Act) and Budget Item 6120-213-0001 ($2 million for the California Library Literacy program).” In your letters, please indicate how much your library usage is up, how important it is to hold together the integrity of the “systems” under CLSA to protect the collaborative coordination between libraries, how your library would benefit if the $8 million were put into “communications and delivery” under the CLSA (e.g. could use it to buy better circuits in preparation for the statewide broadband connectivity, establish Wifi hotspots, etc.), and please indicate how robust your literacy programs are, the value of that service in helping people to become more self-sufficient, and how many adult learners remain on waiting lists, etc.  

Please send or fax your letters to the following Budget Conference Committee members by Thursday (June 5) of next week.  Thank you for your help!

The Honorable Nancy Skinner, Chair
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 6026
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 319-2115

The Honorable Richard Bloom, Member
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 2179
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 319-2150

The Honorable Jeff Gorell, Member
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 6031
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 319-2144

The Honorable Shirley Weber, Member
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 3126
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 319-2179

The Honorable Mark Leno, Member
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 5100
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 651-4911

The Honorable Loni Hancock, Member
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 2082
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 651-4909

The Honorable Ricardo Lara, Member
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 5050
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 651-4933

The Honorable Jim Nielsen, Member
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol, Room 4062
Sacramento, CA.  95814
Fax:  (916) 651-4904