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Legislative Update

August 4, 2010 – Message from NYLA

The Legislature left town after Special Session yesterday and did not pass an amended version of the Article VII Bill for Education, Labor and Family Assistance (ELFA) that would allow for the quick and fair distribution of Library Aid – especially the supplemental system funds and the ability for SED to grant waivers of maintenance of efforts requirements that would prevent a further reduction of 25% in state aid (especially critical to those libraries/library system that lost significant local support like NYC).

The Legislature does plan to return to Albany in September after the primary elections and after state tax revenues for the 3^rd Quarter are known to address unresolved issues like the ELFA Article VII bill.

In addition, the Legislature did approve a Contingency Fund Plan in the event that Congress does not pass a second stimulus package that would provide $1 billion in Medicaid Funding to NYS. The Contingency Fund Plan calls for a 3% reduction across the board to local aid (like Library Aid) in the event that Congress does not pass a second stimulus package.

Please continue to urge your members to contact state legislators about returning to Albany asap to pass the ELFA Article VII Bill for Education, Labor and Family Assistance (ELFA). Visit http://www.nyla.org/index.php?page_id=925to send fax or email.

2010 Legislative Session Recap (as of July 2010)

The 2010 Legislative Session has ended. The bad news is that the $2.4 million in Library Aid cuts were approved, which will reduce Library Aid to $84.4 million or below 1998 levels.

This is 5^th cut in two years. In 2007, Library Aid was $102.8 million. Locally, the cuts have this effect on our library systems (figures are approximate):

System	2010/2011	2007/08	$ Loss
RRLC	$625,354	$745,678	($120,324)
MCLS	$2,012,774	$2,400,822	($387,048)
PLS	$1,173,320	$1,296,982	($223,662)
Monroe BOCES #1 SLS	$139,392	$165,442	($26,050)
Monroe-Orleans BOCES #2 SLS	$135,023	$160,992	($25,969)
Roch. CSD SLS	$133,047	$158,926	($25,879)
GV BOCES SLS	$191,738	$228,590	($36,870)
WFL BOCES SLS	$146,963	$175,220	($28,257)

In addition, School Aid was reduced by approximately $1.4 billion (although School Library Materials Aid remained the same at $6.25 per pupil).

ALE (Adult Literacy Education) funds were also reduced by $2 million to $4.2 million.

Fortunately, $14 million for public library construction remains intact.

Both the Assembly and Senate did pass one of NYLA’s priority bills (S.3903 Oppenheimer/A.6154 Paulin) that would permit libraries and library systems to engage in cooperative bidding (instead of going out to bid individually for products or services they can now do so jointly thereby saving money through bulk purchasing). The Governor is expected to sign this bill into law later this summer.

The Senate passed two of NYLA’s other priority bills: the BOCES-Libraries Internet Partnerships (S.4634/Oppenheimer/A.8673 Gunther) that would allow libraries and library systems to contract with BOCES for telecommunication services like Internet; and the Public Library System Eligibility for Local Government Efficiency Grants (S.6875 Oppenheimer/A.10412 Bing) that would allow public library systems to apply for local government efficiency grants to study and implement cost savings measures. Unfortunately, both of these bills did not make it out of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Although this year may look bad, it could have been much worse--and next year could be much worse, as the state is facing an estimated $15 billion budget deficit in the 2011-2012 fiscal year (as opposed to this year’s $9.2 billion deficit). In addition, if Congress does not approve legislation to provide extra funding to the states for Medicaid reimbursement, this year’s deficit could widen by another $1 billion.

The New York State Higher Education Initiative (NYSHEI) ARIAbill (S 6855A/ A 9824A) is working its way through committees (Senate Finance; Assembly Ways & Means) as of August, 2010.

Thanks again to all the library advocates who contacted their state legislators on NYLA’s budget and legislative priorities.