TO: CLA MEMBERS/ SYSTEMS/ NETWORK CONTACTS

FROM: Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

RE: News From the Capitol – Action Requested

Support Needed for Senate Version of the State Budget: 

$750 million for library construction grants

On May 2, 2022, in our “News from the Capitol” report to the field, we indicated that the California State Senate is proposing that $750 million in library construction grants be included as part of this year’s 2022-23 State Budget.  The historic proposal for public library infrastructure was contained in the Senate Democrats’ “Putting California’s Wealth to Work for a More Equitable Economy” document that was released at the start of the month.  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.  

As you may recall from previous State Budget reports, the Governor releases his proposed Budget in January and then a follow-up, revised Budget in May - called the “May Revision” - is submitted by the Governor to the legislature.  The California State Assembly and Senate Budget Subcommittees review each proposal in the Governor’s Budget and make decisions to accept the proposal, modify it, or reject it – thus, creating their own version of the Budget in each house.  

CLA remains hopeful that the Senate Version of the Budget will ultimately contain the $750 million for library infrastructure grants.  CLA recently testified in the Senate Budget Subcommittee, thanking the Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins, Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner, and Senate Budget Subcommittee Chair John Laird for their ongoing leadership on this issue. However, more work needs to be done, particularly since the Governor’s Budget does not contain any funding for library construction grants, and there is no comparable proposal similar to the Senate’s $750 million plan on the Assembly side.

CLA needs your help.  Budget negotiations are moving fast, with rumors indicating that the legislature would like to reach a two-house deal on a Budget proposal to present to the Governor close to May 31st.  Please take a moment today to do the following:

1. Call your Senator’s Capitol or district office.  

1. Indicate that you are supporting the $750 million contained in the Senate Democrat’s proposal:  “Putting California’s Wealth to Work for a More Equitable Economy.”  If it is a Democrat member, please thank them for their support of California’s public libraries.  

2. Encourage your Senator to support the $750 million amount as part of the Senate Version of the State Budget.  

3. If you have construction needs at your library, please share an example of what the funding could do for your facility.

2. Call your California Assemblymember’s Capitol or district office.  

1. Indicate that the Senate is proposing $750 million for library construction grants as part of their Budget.

2. Encourage your Assemblymember to support a comparable amount of library construction funding on the Assembly side as part of their Budget.  

3. If you have construction needs at your library, please share an example of what the funding could do for your facility.  

Links to the Assembly and Senate rosters of members can be found here:

https://www.senate.ca.gov/senators

https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers

Thank you for your help!