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Library Construction Bond and Homework Help Bills Held
TO: CLA Members/ Systems/ Network Contacts
FROM: Mike Dillon, CLA Lobbyist; Christina Dillon, CLA Lobbyist
RE: News from the Capitol
I. DIFFICULT DAY IN FISCAL COMMITTEES FOR LIBRARY ISSUES:
LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION BOND AND ONLINE HOMEWORK HELP BILLS HELD
Yesterday afternoon, the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees took up their so-called "suspense file," a process which allows the fiscal committees to prioritize legislation, with fiscal implications to the State, exceeding $150,000. The Assembly Appropriations Committee heard approximately 600 bills on their "suspense file," (593 to be exact) totaling more than $7 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee considered close to 400 measures with similar cost estimates. The "suspense file" vote is always much anticipated, and lobbyists pack the hearing rooms to determine if their legislation will be considered "dead" for the year, or will move forward to the respective Floors of each House. Because Democrats dominate each House, more bills are passed by Democrat authors than Republican authors, and the majority of bills that are passed by the Committee are passed with all Democrats voting "aye" and all Republicans voting "no." In fact, in order to avoid calling the roll on each bill, and to expedite the process, the Assembly has instituted a process of votes by an "A" roll call, meaning all Democrats and Republicans voting "aye," or a "B" roll call, meaning all Democrats voting "aye" and Republicans voting "no." CLA has been actively supporting three bills that were considered yesterday by the Assembly as well as the Senate Appropriations Committees. Here is the information regarding their disposition:
SB 156-SIMITIAN: Library Construction and Renovation Bond Bill - Held In Committee
Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Committee decided to hold SB 156 by Senator Joe Simitian, in committee, instead of sending it to the Senate Floor for vote. Senator Simitian expressed his disappointment over the decision by the committee to hold the bill on "suspense." Subsequent to the hearing, the Senator said that he "will do anything he can, and is actively working, to ensure that a library bond moves forward as soon as possible." He further stated that he "is as committed, as ever, to library construction funding."
For now, SB 156 remains the possession of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the legislature's focus will now shift to passage of the State Budget and to negotiations over the numerous health care bills. We will keep you posted regarding any developments as the session continues.
AB 1233-Galgiani: Online Homework Help - Held In Committee
AB 1233-Galgiani, is sponsored by Tutor.com and would provide $3 million in additional state General Fund monies for the purpose of requiring the State Librarian to enter into a contract with an entity to establish and maintain a program of online homework assistance that is free of charge through public libraries in the state. Due to the increasingly difficult state Budget picture, the bill was held in committee due to its large costs.
AB 1030-Caballero: At Risk Youth Literacy - Approved
AB 1030-Caballero is part of the author's "Gang Prevention Tool Kit" to address the problems of at-risk youth, gangs, and literacy. Specifically, the bill expands the California Library and Literacy and English Acquisition Services (CEALS) program to include services to young adults 16 years of age or over who are not enrolled in school to provide adult basic literacy tutoring. The bill also deletes the local certification requirement to provide the same level of fiscal support in the prior fiscal year. The bill will now head to the Assembly Floor for vote next week.
II. BUDGET CONFERENCE COMMITTEE TO BEGIN THIS AFTERNOON
This afternoon the powerful six member Budget Conference Committee will begin holding hearings to consider and reconcile the differences between the Governor's Budget, the Senate Version of the Budget, and the Assembly Version of the Budget. The Conference Committee is expected to begin working through the weekend and during the next two weeks in an attempt to have a Budget compromise ready by the June 15th constitutional deadline.
As mentioned in our previous memo, the Senate Budget Conferees are: Senator Denise Ducheny, Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, and Senator Mike Machado. On Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez announced his conferees for the Assembly, who will be: Assemblyman John Laird, Assemblyman Roger Niello, and Assemblyman Mark Leno. The Public Library Foundation will be subject to consideration by the Conferees, as there is a dollar difference between the two houses relative to the action they took on the PLF. The Senate is recommending that the PLF be augmented by $2 million, bringing the potential baseline funding level to $23 million. The Assembly took no action on the PLF. As mentioned previously, both houses rejected the Governor's proposed $52,000 cut to the PLF in order to fund the State Library's Integrated Library System Replacement Project.
Please take a moment today to write or call the members of the Budget Conference Committee and urge their strong support for:
BUDGET ITEM NUMBER 6120-221-0001: PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: SUPPORT FOR SENATE VERSION.
Sample address:
Assemblyman John Laird, Chair
Budget Conference Committee
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Assemblyman John Laird (916) 319-2027
Assemblyman Roger Niello (916) 319-2005
Assemblyman Mark Leno (916) 319-2013
Senator Denise Ducheny (916) 651-4040
Senator Dennis Hollingsworth (916) 651-4036
Senator Mike Machado (916) 651-4005
Posted on June 1, 2007 3:10 PM | Permalink