Legislative Update

New Funding Source for State Library, Cultural Education: The New York State Legislature has approved a new method for providing funding for Cultural Education, including the New York State Library, State Museum, Public Broadcasting, and State Archives. Under this new system, a $20 per transaction increase in county filing fees will be used to fund these agencies. Staff at the State Library’s Division of Library Development will continue to be paid through federal Library Services and Technology Act funds.

The other legislative proposal that focused on Cultural Education was NYICE (New York Institute for Cultural Education); this new organization would have replaced the Board of Regents in the governance of the State Library, Archives, Museum, and Public Broadcasting. This initiative was not approved this year.

State Aid to Libraries and Library Systems: The New York State Legislature completed its annual budget process without increasing state aid to libraries this year. In a difficult budget year, there was not enough money to go around to fund any portion of the New Century Libraries initiative, which is based on the Regents Commission on Libraries report issued two years ago. Increased state funds would have, among other things, provided support for statewide subscriptions to electronic data bases, provided money for public library construction, and appropriated funds earmarked for academic, school, and public libraries technology initiatives. Also, an increase in funding that would have permitted use of the 2000 census in calculating aid was not approved.

Federal Update: A three-judge panel sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently ruled Sections 1712(a)(2) and 1721(b) of the Children's Internet Protection Act to be invalid under the First Amendment and permanently enjoined the government from enforcing those provisions. The panel held that "we are constrained to conclude that the library plaintiffs must prevail in their contention that CIPA requires them to violate the First Amendment rights of their patrons, and accordingly is facially invalid." The Court permanently enjoined the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Library Services Technology Act (LSTA) from withholding funds from public libraries that have chosen not to install blocking technology on all Internet-ready terminals. As a result, public libraries are not required to install filters on their computers in order to receive funds from either agency.