Ohio Library Council BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ITEM NO.: 5.F.1 MEETING DATE: March 15, 2019 SUBJECT: Government Relations and Legal SUBMITTED BY: Michelle Francis Services Report

REPORT FOR INFORMATION

Public Library Fund The Ohio Department of Taxation (ODT) posted the March 2019 Public Library Fund (PLF) distribution of $27,325,203, which is $151,071 less (- 0.55%) than the ODT estimate for the month. However, this month’s distribution is $307,757 more (+ 1.14%) than the March 2018 distribution. A look at the PLF distribution for the past three years and a link to an Excel spreadsheet listing each county’s distribution total for March 2019 can be found on the OLC website: http://olc.org/funding/

2019 Legislative Day It’s State Budget time at the Ohio Statehouse! Governor Mike DeWine recently delivered his first State of the State Address in Columbus and he will be releasing his state budget proposal for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 on March 15. The OLC’s Legislative Day is scheduled for Tues., April 9, at the Ohio Statehouse. This is an extremely important time for Ohio’s public libraries.The Ohio General Assembly will consider hundreds of bills during a typical biennial session, but the most important legislation for the public library community is the state budget bill which determines how much state funding public libraries will receive for the next two years. Hundreds of interested party groups come to Columbus between March and June to make their case for funding - public libraries are no different. Legislators need to hear from us and see us in their offices. We are urging them to Restore the PLF! OLC’s Legislative Day is Library Day at the Statehouse – it is an opportunity for public libraries to come to Columbus, meet with legislators, and advocate on behalf of Ohio's public libraries. This year, Legislative Day will include remarks from President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) and Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Heights) and then a luncheon with legislators. The OLC has already invited legislators to the luncheon and the RSVPs are coming in. The event also falls within National Library Week, an annual celebration of the life-changing work of libraries. It's the perfect time to share the essential work libraries are doing. The registration fee for Legislative Day is $45 for OLC members and includes lunch. The goal is to have libraries represented from each House and Senate District! More information is available at: http://olc.org/legislative-day/

Preparing for Legislative Day Webinar A “Preparing for Legislative Day” webinar will be presented on Mon., March 18, from 1-2 p.m. This free webinar will outline steps that Legislative Day participants should take before, during and after the OLC's Legislative Day on April 9. More information is available on the OLC website at: http://olc.org/blog/event/preparing-legislative-day-webinar/

ALA DC Fly-In Instead of having a traditional National Library Legislative Day this year, the ALA organized a more targeted national advocacy effort. The OLC was one of three representatives from Ohio who were

5.F.1: Government and Legal Services Report 1 selected to participate in a special ALA Congressional Fly-In. I was selected along with Steve Potash from OverDrive and Shenise Johnson from Cleveland Public Library to represent Ohio. The fly-In included an intense day of briefings and training followed by a second day of back-to- back meetings with members of Ohio’s Congressional delegation. Our advocacy efforts focused on federal funding for libraries – fully funding LSTA at the reauthorized amount of $232 million. More details will be shared at the Board meeting.

ALA Mid-Winter I represented the OLC at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in January in Seattle. This included participation in the Chapter Leaders Forum as well as the Chapter Relations Committee meetings. We heard presentations from the U.S. Census Bureau as well as the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. There was a significant amount of discussion at the conference about reshaping the Midwinter Meeting in the future as well as operational changes within ALA itself. More details will be provided at the Board meeting.

Activities Activities since the Jan. 18 Board meeting include: Jan. 24-29 ALA Midwinter Meeting Jan. 31 Meeting with Metro Library Lobbyists Feb. 4 Meeting with OBM Director Kim Murnieks Feb. 5 Meeting with OWT Interim Director Emily Fabiano Feb. 6 Meeting with State Rep. Steve Arndt Meeting with State Rep. Erica Crawley CMC Luncheon on the State Budget Feb. 7 Meeting with Emily Kaylor, State Auditor’s Office Meeting with State Rep. Meeting with Jennifer Dougherty, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio Feb.11 Meeting with Lindsay Miller, Ice Miller on Broadband Meeting with State Rep. Jack Cera Feb. 12 Meeting with State Rep. Feb. 13 Meeting with State Rep. Randi Clites Meeting with State Rep. Jim Butler Meeting with State Rep. Lou Blessing III Feb. 15 Meeting with Directors of Mid-Size Libraries (ETM) Feb. 18 Special Advocacy Training for Stark County District Library Feb. 19 Meeting with State Rep. Meeting with State Rep. Meeting with State Rep. Feb. 20 Meeting with State Rep. Feb. 21 Meeting with State Rep. Rick Carfagna/IP Meeting on Broadband Feb. 22 Funeral Service for Clyde Scoles Feb. 25 ALA DC Fly-In Feb. 26 Meeting with U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s Staff Meeting with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Staff Meeting with U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers’ Staff Meeting with U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur Feb. 27 Meeting with State Rep. Meeting with State Rep. 5.F.1: Government and Legal Services Report 2

Meeting with State Rep. Feb. 28 Lobbyist Meeting with Schools & Local Gov.’s on Pipeline Tax Meeting with Metro Library Lobbyists Meeting with State Sen. Minority Leader Yuko’s Staff Mar. 1 Meeting with Gov. Mike DeWine’s Staff on Children’s Initiatives Mar. 5 Meeting with State Rep. Riordan McClain Meeting with State Rep. Mar. 6 Meeting with State Rep. Meeting with State Rep. Meeting with State Rep. Bride Sweeney Meeting with State Rep. Joe Miller Mar. 7 Meeting with State Rep. Meeting with State Sen. Steve Wilson Meeting with State Rep. (House Finance Committee Chairman) Mar. 8 Meeting with Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance Meeting with Megan O’Dell, Ohio Poverty Law Center Mar. 9 OLC Trustee Workshop Mar. 11 Meeting with State Rep. Mar. 12 Meeting with State Rep. Mar. 13 Meeting with Gov. Mike DeWine’s Director of Cabinet Affairs Ryan Burgess Mar. 14 OLA Luncheon with OBM Director Kim Murnieks and Finance Chairs Meeting with State Sen. Peggy Lehner Meeting with State Sen. Matt Dolan (Senate Finance Committee Chairman)

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