On February 21, 2024, Associate Policy Director Brianna January submitted a Letter of Information to the House Ways and Means Committee on HB 785- Freedom to Read Act. This bill creates a “State Standards for Libraries” about providing and restricting library materials based on origin, identity, and “partisan doctrinal disapproval.” Local library and School systems are required to adopt these standards. The State may withhold funding from any public library that fails to adopt these standards.
MACo’s concerns with HB 785 are largely about the potential financial impact on county governments as primary funders of local library systems.
Assuming that county governments would be obligated − if not by law, then by public pressure − to fill any lapses in state funding resulting from the bill, counties could be forced to take on a substantial fiscal burden to maintain the library system’s level of service. County governments would be forced to backfill the loss of state funding despite having no authorization over library materials, resources, or programmatic policies.
HB 785’s cross-file, SB 738, was heard on February 23, 2024 in the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee. Brianna January submitted a Letter of Information on this bill.
SB 738 was heard in the opposite chamber, the House Ways and Means Committee, on March 27. MACo submitted a Letter of Information on this bill.
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