Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2512 amends laws concerning state grants in aid to libraries. The bill would authorize the State Library to receive public or private grants and donations. Currently, the State Librarian uses population statistics certified by the Kansas Division of the Budget in addition to statistics reported by local officials to calculate distribution of grants in aid. H.B. 2512 would allow the State Librarian to calculate local public library aid distribution based solely on the statistics from the Kansas Division of the Budget. The bill also would change the aid eligibility certification requirement date from January 15 to February 15 and change the library expenditure reporting period to October 1 through September 30, instead of January 1 through December 31, so that state and federal reporting requirements can be met by a single report. The bill also deletes reference to a fund from which to draw grants in aid, because there is no such special revenue fund.

Background

The bill was introduced by the House Appropriations Committee during the 1997 Legislative Session, was amended by the Committee, and was recommended for passage as amended. It was referred back to the Appropriations Committee and further amended to correct the statutory citations because of the republishing of the hardbound Volumes 6 and 6A of the Kansas Statutes Annotated. The bill was supported by the State Librarian.

The fiscal note indicates the bill would have no fiscal impact.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.