From: Gloria Meraz [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 6:04 PM To: Public Libraries Division Subject: [pld] CALL TO ACTON on SB 1 and databases: Workgroup to decide by Monday Importance: High
The state is now is the last phase of budget negotiations. Sen. Royce West and Rep. John Otto have been named to work on the Article 1 Workgroup, which will make final recommendations for the State Library budget and library programs. We expect the workgroup to complete its recommendations on Monday morning, so it is critical that you contact legislators as soon as possible. If your legislators do not serve on the workgroup, please ask them to contact their colleagues who are on the workgroup and ask them to support library funding. If your legislator does serve on the conference committee, it is critically important that you contact them if you haven't already. CALL TO ACTION We urge you to take just a couple of minutes to express your support of the following library programs. When you email or call, please note that you are asking your legislator to support of the following issues related to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's budget, which is found in Article 1 of the General Appropriations Act (SB 1). Specifically, we would like lawmakers to: 1. Please appropriate at least $2.5 million for Library Resource Sharing Services. While both the House and Senate recommended funds in Article XI, these additional requests were not included as a final part of the State Library's budget. We request at least $2.5 million to offset price increases in the K-12 and TexShare databases programs. Without this additional funding, students, communities, and institutions of higher education will lose access to existing resources. This funding is needed simply to keep up with escalating program costs. 2. Please accept the House recommendations for A.1.2 Strategy: Aid to Local Libraries (includes $4.7 million for Loan Star Libraries and $2 million for the Regional Library Systems). Who to email? 1. Your own representative and senator. To find who represents you and for contact information, go to: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/. 2. Lt. Governor David Dewhurst: http://www.ltgov.state.tx.us/contact.php (fill in the contact form) 3. Speaker Joe Straus: [email protected] 4. If you personally know one of the conference committee members below, please contact them. Conference Committee members For contact information, House (http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Members/Members.aspx?Chamber=H)and Senate (http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Members/Members.aspx?Chamber=S) Sen. Steve Ogden (co-chair) Sen. Chuy Hinojosa Sen. Florence Shapiro Sen. Royce West Sen. Tommy Williams Rep. Jim Pitts (co-chair) Rep. Ruth McClendon Rep. John Otto Rep. Richard Raymond Rep. John Zerwas ******************************************************* TLA-Texline is an irregular publication of the Texas Library Association mailed directly to members interested in legislative and governmental issues affecting libraries. To subscribe, contact Gloria Meraz, Director of Communications, Texas Library Association, [email protected]. ******************************************************* You are currently subscribed to pld as: [email protected]. Subscription is automatic, based on member preferences. If you would like to be removed from all of your unit distribution lists, please update your membership setting "I do not want to be automatically subscribed to my Unit electronic distribution list(s)" via the Modify Membership Information/Choices found in the Members Only Section of www.txla.org.
