Call to Action: Contact members of the Ohio Senate

The Ohio House Finance Committee accepted an omnibus amendment to Substitute House Bill (Sub. HB) 110 on April 20. Unfortunately, it does not include language to maintain the Public Library Fund (PLF) at 1.7%.

Now is the time to begin reaching out to members of the Ohio Senate and educating them on the importance of funding our public libraries. Utilize the following talking points when speaking to your Ohio Senators:

• Urge their Senate members to maintain critical funding for libraries at 1.7%. If the state budget bill is not changed, libraries will be cut on July 1, and funded at 1.66% of the General Revenue Fund.
• Libraries will also be impacted by the proposed 2% personal income tax rate reduction. Urge Senators to hold libraries harmless when considering tax cuts.
• Clarify that libraries are not receiving millions of dollars directly from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). OLC testified before the House Finance Committee on April 15 to clarify this point. A transcript of the testimony is available at libraryfunding.olc.org. The OLC also issued a press release on May 3.

Now is NOT the time to be cutting funding for Ohio’s public libraries. We provide crucial services to our 8.4 million library users.

Contact your Ohio Senator today!

Additional Resources:

• OLC memo to Ohio House (April 14, 2021)
• Ohio Senate Directory