Last week the Senate finished and voted on its version of
the FY 2014 budget. See Cindy Roach’s
email of 5/24/13 for full details.
The Speaker of the House and Senate President will each
appoint 3 members to serve on the Conference Committee very soon. The line
items below will be considered by the Conference Committee since the Senate and
House versions and language differ for these accounts.
7000-9101
For the operation of the board of library commissioners
WMLA Supports the Senate
Budget figure: $1,018,754
House
Budget $1,012,047
7000-9401
For state aid to regional public libraries; provided, that the board of
library commissioners may provide quarterly advances of funds for purposes
authorized by clauses (1) and (2) of section 19C of chapter 78 of the General
Laws, as it considers proper, to regional public library systems throughout
each fiscal year, in compliance with the office of the comptroller’s
regulations on state grants, 815 CMR 2; provided further, that notwithstanding
any general or special law to the contrary, in calculating the fiscal year 2013
distribution of funds appropriated in this item, the board of library
commissioners shall employ population figures used to calculate the fiscal year
2012 distribution; and provided further, that notwithstanding any general or
special law to the contrary, the library of the commonwealth shall receive
not less than thirty-five and nine tenths cents for each resident of the
commonwealth
WMLA Supports the
Senate Budget figure: $9,731,475
House
Budget $9,279,475
*** IMPORTANT: Ask your legislators to support the SENATE
version, since Boston would get an additional $150,000 and MLS would get a
much-needed increase of $350,000.
Advocates please emphasize to all
legislators – House and Senate Leadership, those legislators who are
appointed to Conference and those who are not – that the Senate bottom line
increase for this account MUST be approved in order to benefit
both BPL and MLS. If the lower House total is passed, and the
Senate language increasing the BPL per capita remains, the increase for BPL
will be taken from the MLS budget.
This happened in the past to the
Regional Systems, and some legislators did not realize the unintended consequence of only approving the per capita increase. They
thought they were passing an increase for the Regions, when the actual result was a
cut. We need them to understand that “You can’t increase BPL’s
per capita without increasing the bottom line.”
7000-9506
For the technology and automated resource sharing networks
Senate
Budget $1,929,238
WMLA Supports the House
Budget figure: $2,129,238
Contact your legislators as soon as possible.
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