News from Illinois Library Association

Vol. 4, Issue: # 7 March 7, 2011

ILA's Public Policy Committee Reviews More Bills

Highlights from the Monday, 7 March 2011 Meeting

The ILA Public Policy Committee (PPC) met today and reviewed 33 individual legislative bills, recommending positions on many bills. PPC also discussed the current budget situation and the continuing pressure to find State budget cuts. A primary PPC concern is the on-going legislative discussion about additional pension reform. PPC accepted a report from the ILA Executive Board on the principles the Board adopted to review the many and varied pension reform proposals, as follows:

(1) oppose legislation that alters an employee's already earned pension benefit;
(2) support proposals that include true employee choice;
(3) support applying any proposed pension reform proposal universally and equally to all state and local pension plans; and
(4) support HJRCA5 and similar proposals that help preserve the cost savings resulting from Senate Bill 1956 (creating the 2nd tier pension benefits programs) by requiring a super-majority vote to increase future pension benefits.

Other bills of particular note and PPC recommended positions include:

House Bill 2889 -- Mandatory Internet Filters for Libraries under the Local Library Act and Schools -- Oppose.
House Bill 3280 -- Delegation to law enforcement to select a list of "illegal" web sites that must be blocked by Internet Service providers -- Oppose.
Senate Bill 1386 -- Increases the period of time to allow refunds of property taxes based on erroneous assessments from 5 years to 20 years -- Oppose.
House Bill 1956 -- Allows local governments to change the IMRF participation limit for part-time employees from 600 to 1000 hours, but only for employees that have not previously been a part of the pension system -- Support.
House Bill 1715 -- Eliminates requirement to provide information through freedom of information requests if that information is already available through the governmental body's web site -- Support.
House Bill 1898 -- Allows voter initiated tax cap referendums -- Oppose.

aIllinois Snapshot Day

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

The ALA Committee on Library Advocacy will present a free webinar on Library Snapshot Day from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. CST on Thursday, 17 March 2011.

Library Snapshot Day is an event that provides library staff a simple means to show the value of the library by capturing what happens in a single day in all types of libraries, across a state, community, or even in a single library. Learn how to implement this event, as well as how to maximize photos, statistics and stories to make the case to decision-makers.

Founder of the initiative, Peggy Cadigan, associate state librarian for Innovation & Communication, New Jersey State Library, and Robert E. Banks, deputy director, Topeka & Shawnee County (Kans.) Library will present the session. The webinar is co-sponsored by the ALA Chapter Relations Office and the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA).

Please click here for registration, which is mandatory. Also please visit the ILA Web site for all the necessary documents to make Snapshot Day a success for you!

ILA Awards Spotlight

Intellectual Freedom Award
Presented by the ILA Intellectual Freedom Committee, Public Policy Committee, and Quality Books, Inc., an individual or group is recognized by this award for outstanding contributions to the defense of intellectual freedom or the advancement of these principles as espoused and promulgated by both the Illinois Library Association and the American Library Association.

Robert R. McClarren Legislative Development Award
Presented by the ILA Public Policy Committee, the award is given to a worthy recipient from the Illinois library community -- librarian, trustee, legislator, or library -- who has contributed significantly to legislative development in the state of Illinois

Nominations for all ILA Awards are due May 15, 2011. Nominating someone for an ILA Award has never been easier!

Submit your nomination form and all supporting documentation via the ILA Web site. No service should go unrecognized, so toot your own horn or tell us who you think is the best!

If you have any questions about the ILA Awards, please contact the ILA office at (312) 644-1896, or ila@ila.org.

In the News

If your library has a newspaper story with link, send it to us at doyle@ila.org for possible inclusion in the next ILA E-Newletter. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Robert P. Doyle
Illinois Library Association

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Disclaimer: Links to non-ILA sites have been provided because these sites may have information of interest. The Illinois Library Association does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or the facts presented on these sites; and furthermore, ILA does not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites.