Today, Governor Snyder signed into law SB 571, the legislation barring libraries, school districts and local governments from spending public funds on TV ads, mailers or phone messages about local ballots proposals 60 days before an election. However, a clean-up bill is currently being hashed out that would address that portion of the bill. MLA remains highly engaged as the clarification language is crafted for the new bill. Libraries voices were heard. Thank you for your participation and engagement. Watch the MLA website and communications for updates. It has been reported that some legislators who voted for the bill later voiced opposition saying they were unaware of the implications of some of the changes made when the original 12 page bill morphed to 53 pages in the final minutes of the 2015 legislative session. To recap, SB 571 is an attack on free and equal access to information and creates criminal and civil penalties for libraries and boards concerning sharing of factual information about their elections within 60 days of Election Day. The language blocks access to unbiased, objective communication and dissemination of information - the very definition of a library's purpose. When SB 571 was passed in late December, MLA acted immediately by issuing an advocacy alert that resulted in 800 concerned Michigan citizens contacting Gov. Synder by phone or email asking him to veto the bill. John Chrastka from EveryLibrary<http://everylibrary.org/>, a national nonprofit dedicated exclusively to political action at a local level to protect public funding for libraries of all types, joined the fight and provided the governor's office with petitions carrying 6,000 signatures. MLA delivered a letter to the governor and garnered national media attention with a press release and interviews. Everylibraries' social media campaign took hold and tweets and facebook posts peppered the internet calling for a veto of what was being called a "gag order" on librarians and other local officials. Kind regards, Laura Covey Director of Membership, Communications and Marketing Michigan Library Association 3410 Belle Chase Way, Suite 100 Lansing, MI 48911 517-394-2774 ext. 225 Fax 517-394-2675 lcovey@milibraries.org<mailto:lcovey@milibraries.org> www.milibraries.org<http://www.milibraries.org/> [Web Icon resized]
