Legislative updates

I sat in a session this morning with Jennifer Duffy of Cook Political report, who shared an amazing knowledge of Washington politics and current climate to help us think about how library leaders can strategically approach the federal government on library issues and funding.

The session began with a video shared from the chair of the FCC talking about the key role libraries play in bridging the digital divide--and how they are vital for national communications!

Opportunities that Duffy described included:

• Demographics are shifting, and many of the people who use libraries heavily are also the people who appear to be voting, such as recent immigrants
• Moderate voters, those who don't care for extreme conservative or liberal positions, are those most likely to affect election outcomes

But the challenges are also significant:

• Duffy reported that the current Congress and Senate is extremely dysfunctional and it is incredibly hard to get anything done.  Most members are relatively new (majority of Congress has served less than 3 years) and rigid ideologically.  They move from crisis to crisis and don't get much done.  For example, Duffy said many educational funding bills are up for renewal and it is unlikely all will be passed.
• It is very difficult to assess public opinion accurately due to changes in technology--fewer people have landlines, and fewer answer their phone; it can be difficult to find a way to reach many key demographic groups using any one form of access.  Consquently, polling data is not as clear as it once was.