NLA Members and Nebraska Library Supporters!
Your lobbying and advocacy efforts have paid off! Every conversation that you had with your state senators and local officials were part of the success. Not just this year, but over the past years, too.
The Appropriations Committee included $150,000 for aid to local libraries (eReads) in the budget proposal. Increased funding for databases and the regional systems were not included. Given the many proposals in front of the committee, this is still significant because it’s been many years since there has been any increase! The state faces the huge issues of at-risk children, state aid to education, health care, etc. ( Last year, against great odds, a bill to support the health of young children was passed; healthy children mean fewer unhealthy, at-risk, incarcerated, etc. adults – eventually a better life for all Nebraskans.)
The proposed budget is at http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/reports/fiscal/2013budget.pdf
Ken Winston, NLA Lobbyist, has met with several members of the Appropriations Committee and thanked them for their work. Now it is our turn to thank the members of the Appropriations Committee for their work. If you contacted them earlier, please take the time to thank them for their support.
As you’ve talked with your local senators, you know they respect, recognize, and appreciate the good things that we do in our communities. The time you have spent talking with your local senators has been an investment in the future of your community. We need to continue to build on that good will and our reputations as trusted members of our communities who recognize how all Nebraskans work together for everyone’s betterment.
For more information, please contact Francine Canfield, NLA Advocacy Chair.