The following legislative update was written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and Information Technology Educators of MN (ITEM).
Received Monday, March 23, 2015 at 12:04 pm
House Legacy Hearing Today at 12:30pm: Today Ann Hutton and Melinda Ludwiczak will present our request for Legacy funding for the regional public library systems to be increased to $4.25 million per year. Please note that the time of the hearing is 12:30pm rather than the usual 12:45pm start time. The hearing is in the Basement Hearing Room of the State Office Building.
Regional Public Library and Multi-type Funding Bill: SF 832, our bill increasing Regional Library Basic System Support (RLBSS) by $5 million per year and increasing funding for the Multi-types by $1.3 million per year was heard this morning in the Senate E-12 Budget Division. The bill was added to this morning’s agenda on Friday afternoon, so we had to scramble to line up witnesses and provide handouts to the committee staff by the close of business on Friday. Barb Misselt testified on the RLBSS increase and Ann Walker Smalley testified on the multitype increase. Many thanks to both of them for agreeing to testify on such short notice. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus E-12 budget bill.
RLBSS Formula Change Bill: SF 1675, the bill changing the RLBSS distribution formula and increasing RLBSS by $5 million per year, was also heard this morning in the Senate E-12 Budget Division. Ann Hutton testified in support of the bill. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus E-12 budget bill.
Omnibus Education Policy Bill (HF 1591/SF 1495): The House Education Innovation Policy Committee passed its version of the omnibus education policy bill on Thursday and referred it to the House Education Finance Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard tomorrow. The Senate Education Committee passed its version of the omnibus education policy bill on Friday. The bill includes the language from SF 337 conforming Minnesota law to federal law on the privacy of student educational records. This was initiated by the St. Paul Schools to enable them to share student addresses with the St. Paul Public Library for the purpose of issuing public library cards to students.
Seed Library: The House omnibus agriculture policy bill, HF 1544, includes a provision exempting “interpersonal sharing of seed for home, educational, charitable or personal non-commercial use” from seed laws. This will allow the Duluth Public Library to continue to operate its seed library. The bill passed out of the House Agriculture Policy Committee last week. The Senate version of the bill will be taken up in committee this week. It is expected to contain a similar provision.
Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
(office)651-293-0229
(cell) 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/p4m2ool, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0