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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="color:black">Today, Governor Snyder signed into law SB 571, the legislation
</span><span style="color:#333333">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. </span><span style="color:black"> However,
a clean-up bill is currently being hashed out that would address </span><span style="color:#333333">that portion of the bill.
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="color:#333333">MLA remains highly engaged as the clarification language is crafted for the new bill.
</span><span style="color:black">Libraries voices were heard. Thank you for your participation and engagement.
</span><span style="color:#333333">Watch the MLA website and communications for updates.
</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt;background:white"><span style="color:black">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">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.
</span>John Chrastka from <a href="http://everylibrary.org/" target="_blank">EveryLibrary</a>, 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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">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.
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<p class="MsoNormal">Kind regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Laura Covey<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Director of Membership, Communications and Marketing<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Michigan Library Association<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3410 Belle Chase Way, Suite 100<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lansing, MI 48911<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">517-394-2774 ext. 225<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fax 517-394-2675<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:lcovey@milibraries.org"><span style="color:#0563C1">lcovey@milibraries.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><a href="http://www.milibraries.org/"><span style="color:#0563C1">www.milibraries.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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