Budget Season
by Tamara Theiler
Washington has a season unlike any otherthe Budget Season. It begins early in the year, when the president releases the White House's budget blueprint and continues into the fall as lawmakers debate how federal programs will be funded in the coming year. This year the president's budget blueprint contains good news for the information services community. Among the administration's requests is a proposal for $10 million to be spent on recruiting librarians.
The White House has suggested these funds be administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Since IMLS is a federal agency the administration's request now faces the congressional budget process.
During this time the legislation will be reviewed and possibly altered by several committees and subcommittees in both the House and Senate. The following committees will play a large role in approving the president's request: Senate Budget Committee, House Budget Committee, Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, the House Appropriations Committee, and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.
If affirmed, the monies will provide financial aid to master's and doctoral candidates in the information sciences and develop distance-learning opportunities in rural areas. This a is great opportunity for SLA members to affect the future of the information profession. We are asking for your help in getting this initiative passed.
Please contact your local representative and senators, especially if he/she is a member of any of the above committees. However, with continued mail complications on the Hill, legislators and citizens are finding alternative ways of corresponding.
Currently there are three reliable options for getting your message to your elected officials. The first and most efficient way is to send an e-mail. Most representatives and senators have a published e-mail address, which they are beginning to use more frequently. Those that do not use e-mail usually have a form on their Web site that can be used for sending messages electronically.
The second way is to send a fax to the representative/senator's office in Washington, D.C. Staff usually collect faxes two to three times a day and distribute them with the mail. Most of these fax numbers are published.
The third way is to send a physical letter to a representative or senator's local office. Most members of Congress maintain several offices in their district or state in order to facilitate a close relationship with their constituents. These addresses are also generally published.
When writing to a member of Congress it is a good idea to make your letter as personal as possible. It is important that your message reflects your personal views. It is also important that you write only to the representative from your district and senators from your state. This being said, the following are some points you might want to include:
· An estimated 40 percent of U.S. library directors plan to retire within 9 years.
· There is the potential for a critical shortage of knowledge workers while at the same time the amount of information is increasing. Information professionals are uniquely qualified to apply this knowledge effectively.
· Recruiting a new generation of librarians is vital for the economic, social and military protection of any free nation.
· It is important to ensure that technology is utilized by trained information professionals who understand the crucial role of credible information to our nation's security.
Because of the large number of voters and legislative measures, members of Congress generally only respond to messages from constituents from their state or district. However, feel free to ask your representative or senator to forward your comments to other appropriate members, which can be named in your letter. If you are unsure about who your local representative is, or would like to get the address for a district office, go to the official House of Representatives (www.house.gov) or Senate Web site (www.senate.gov).
If you choose to write your representative/senators, please forward your comments to SLA headquarters. Comments should be sent to Doug Newcomb at doug@sla.org. This will help us get a sense of what is important to you and to develop a common message for information professionals.
For an example correspondence letter to your congressman or senator, go to Public Policy Central on Virtual SLA (www.sla.org/).
RSS
Feedback form
