SENATE BUDGET PLAN PROPOSES $750 MILLION FOR LIBRARY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

May 2, 2022

TO:            CLA MEMBERS/ SYSTEMS/ NETWORK CONTACTS

FROM:       Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

RE:             News From the Capitol

SENATE BUDGET PLAN PROPOSES $750 MILLION FOR LIBRARY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

At the start of the year, Governor Newsom unveiled his 2022-23 State Budget, which, at the time, projected a $29 billion surplus that could be used for shoring up the state’s reserve accounts and to support various programs such as housing and homelessness, wildfire mitigation, healthcare, business tax incentives, etc.  Remarkably, last week it was reported that the State Budget surplus is now estimated to have ballooned to as much as $68 billion, which far exceeds the Governor’s January projections.  Due to formulas built into current law, a large portion of that surplus funding will be directed to K-12 education spending and the state’s reserves, but it will still leave substantial room for additional program spending. 

Last Thursday, the Senate Democrats unveiled their proposed 2022-23 Budget spending plan, entitled, “Putting California’s Wealth to Work for a More Equitable Economy.”  The Senate Democrats state that “California’s rebounding economy is strong, but increasingly, wealth has gone to the top while leaving the middle class and struggling families behind.”  The Plan features “responsible budgeting” which includes allocating “one-time revenues for one-time purposes” and “builds reserves to historic levels to protect ongoing programs from future economic downturns.” 

Significantly, the Senate Democrats’ package contains an infrastructure proposal which includes:  $750 million for the Library Infrastructure Grant Program, K-12 school facilities and deferred maintenance, higher education student housing and higher education deferred maintenance, and local legislative projects throughout the state.  We anticipate that the $750 million library grant proposal would be modeled after the current $439 million library infrastructure grant program that was part of the 2021-22 State Budget due to the efforts of the Senate Democrats, State Librarian Greg Lucas, and CLA.  Under that competitive grant program Administered by the State Library, public libraries that applied had the potential to receive up to $10 million in grant funding from the state, provided they produced a comparable local match. The State Library has continued to supply the legislature and Governor’s Administration with information regarding the high level of interest that the $439 million “Building Forward:  Library Infrastructure Grant Program” generated and has provided estimates for continued project needs based on unfunded grant applications, etc.   Recently, President Jene Brown sent Governor Newsom and budget leaders a letter from CLA in support of more funding for library infrastructure grants as well as funding for the state’s e-books-for-all platform at the State Library. 

It should be noted that the Senate Democrat plan is merely the opening proposal in what will, most assuredly, be a complex and challenging Budget negotiation this year with the Assembly and Governor’s Administration.  We still have a long way to go.  However, we remain optimistic that there will be some significant dollar amount provided for library infrastructure when the State Budget is signed by the Governor, by July 1.  The Governor is scheduled to release his May Revision of the Budget on approximately May 13, which will serve as his updated version of his January Budget, after the April tax receipts have been received.  We will provide a report regarding the Governor’s May plan after it has been released.

SENATE BILL WOULD CREATE THE STATEWIDE IMAGINATION LIBRARY

CLA is supporting SB 1183 by Senator Shannon Grove, which would create the Statewide Imagination Library, to be administered by the State Librarian.  The program would send age-appropriate books to children (ages birth through 5 years old) to their homes, on a monthly basis, if they are registered for the program through their participating public library, school, or community-based organization.  The books would be made available through a partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.  As the recent Senate Education Committee analysis states, “There are 38 Dolly Parton affiliate programs in California, providing approximately 1.8 million free books to children age birth to five years.  These programs are operated by school districts and county offices of education, public libraries, community-based non-profit organizations, county First 5 agencies, United Way, and a mayor’s office.”

SB 1183 would expand the program statewide if funding for the Imagination Library can be identified in this year’s state Budget.  The Imagination Library also requires participating entities to provide a local match for the grant funds in order to stretch the funds for the program further.

SB 1183 passed out of the Senate Education Committee on April 27^th on a unanimous (“consent”) vote, with the Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins (a much-publicized, life-long fan of Dolly Parton) being added as a co-author.  The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.