2008 ILA Update #19

NEWS RELEASE

ILA Executive Board Focuses on Public Policy and Fiscal Matters
On Friday, 21 November, the ILA Executive Board met at the Prairie Area Library System in Shorewood.

Dee Brennan, chair of the ILA Public Policy Committee, noted that the committee has been discussing since June how to address funding issues for Illinois libraries. Brennan circulated a White Paper with both short-term and long-term strategies for getting money from the Illinois General Assembly. The committee is “operating on the premise that we need to be able to explain what our users need, the programs, services, and resources that we provide to meet these needs, and the amount of money necessary to fund the programs, services, and resources.”

Denise Zielinski, chair of the ILA Strategic Focus on Advocacy Task Force, said the task force recommends the establishment of a new advocacy committee to work in tandem with the ILA Public Policy Committee. Some of the many tasks for this new advocacy committee would be:

• Focus advocacy efforts for members on building meaningful relationships with stakeholders/legislators in the home district;
• Educate every legislator/stakeholder to become “library smart”;
• Form appropriate advocacy partnerships within local communities and with like-minded organizations;
• Develop dedicated sources of funding for advocacy efforts; and
• Develop a statewide network for Illinois legislators that parallels ILA’s Federal Library Legislation Advocacy Network.

The ILA Executive Board approved the establishment of this new committee.

Illinois Secretary of State’s Budget
ILA Executive Director Robert Doyle reported on the continuing confusing saga of the State of Illinois Fiscal Year 2008-2009 budget with its many twists and turns. The Illinois General Assembly originally passed a budget last spring, which contained the Illinois Secretary of State’s requested appropriation. The Governor then vetoed $1.4 billion from the budget passed by the General Assembly including a cut of more than $20 million or a 5 percent cut from the Secretary of State’s budget. (The total budget for the Secretary of State is approximately $400 million.) The General Assembly subsequently passed Senate Bill (SB) 1103, a supplemental appropriation bill of approximately $240 million. SB 1103 contained restoration of $20.7 million for the Secretary of State’s office. On Thursday, 20 November, the Governor vetoed $55 million in specific budget line items from SB 1103 including the $20.7 million for the Secretary of State. When the Illinois General Assembly returns it will have the option of attempting to override these most recent cuts again. It is currently “placed on the calendar item veto January 12, 2009.” If the veto fails, then the cuts will be permanent for 2008-2009 Fiscal Year. It is not yet clear to ILA how these cuts will affect the Illinois State Library or the Illinois library community.

Other Board Actions

• reviewed association’s financial statements;
• accepted the Audit Report, Year Ended June 30, 2008 as prepared by Weiss, Sugar, Dvorak & Dusek, Ltd.;
• reviewed the recommendations from the auditor and staff to strengthen the association’s internal controls and operating efficiency;
• accepted the recommendations of ILA’s long-term investment adviser, Sikich Cozad Asset Management, LLC, to make changes in the association’s portfolio in light of recent stock market developments;
• approved the establishment of the Illinois Library Luminaries program;
• approved the ILA Marketing Committee’s request for proposals regarding the ss“Go Green @ Your Illinois Library” project; and
• approved the revised Serving Our Public: Illinois Public Library Standards.

The next Public Policy Committee meeting will be Monday, 1 December, 2008 noon, Alliance Library System, DuPage Library System, Harold Washington Library Center (Chicago), Illinois State Library, Lewis & Clark Library System, Lincoln Trail Libraries System, Metropolitan Library System (Burr Ridge), North Suburban Library System, Prairie Area Library System (Rockford), Rolling Prairie Library System, and Shawnee Library System via VTEL videoconferencing.