Category Archives: Government Relations

The Government Relations Committee keeps apprised of library-related government activity and provides information to the CALL community. In particular, stays informed of the work of the AALL Government Relations Committee and the Washington Affairs Office.

Government Relations Committee Annual Report

Membership

Joe Mitzenmacher, Committee Chair
Eugene Giudice
Sally Holterhoff
Dave Rogers
Konya Lafferty, Board Liaison

Objectives

The main charge of the Committee is to monitor issues of interest to the law library community and report on those issues to the membership. The Committee’s projects for 2016-17 were to update CALL’s “Finding Illinois Law Guide,” to contribute to the CALL Bulletin by updating CALL members on state and federal legislative items of interest, to work with the Continuing Education Committee on a brown bag lunch or other educational session on government information, and to work with Congressman Quigley’s office on making CRS Reports more widely available. Continue reading Government Relations Committee Annual Report

CALL Awards Representative Mike Quigley Legislator of the Year

In August, CALL leadership visited the offices of Representative Mike Quigley to award him Legislator of the Year on the basis of his “outstanding leadership and commitment to open access to government information.” Rep. Quigley has represented the 5th Congressional District of Illinois since August, 2009 and is well known for his commitment to open government. Continue reading CALL Awards Representative Mike Quigley Legislator of the Year

AALL Government Relations Office Legislative Advocacy Efforts

In the Winter 2016 issue of the CALL Bulletin, Tom Gaylord provided us with information on AALL and ALA advocacy tools. If you are looking for a way to put those advocacy tools to use, Emily Feltren, the Director of AALL’s Government Relations Office (GRO), gave an online advocacy training session on March 9 which highlighted some of the GRO’s legislative priorities for the remainder of the 114th Congress. While election year politics and the limited time remaining in the current Congress make passing any legislation a tricky matter, Emily focused on the following pending bills which the GRO has identified as particularly worthy of our legislative advocacy efforts.

Emily_AALL                                         Emily Feltren Continue reading AALL Government Relations Office Legislative Advocacy Efforts

Advocacy Tools from AALL and ALA

One of the charges of CALL’s Government Relations Committee includes monitoring other associations and their advocacy work and, from time to time, informing CALL’s membership of those activities. In this column, rather than focus on a specific issue, let’s take some time to look at some of the advocacy resources provided by some of these associations, specifically AALL and ALA.

Photo of Tom Gaylord
Tom Gaylord, Member, CALL Government Relations Committee, 2015-2016

Continue reading Advocacy Tools from AALL and ALA

Annual Reports: Government Relations Committee

Membership

Joe Mitzenmacher, Committee Co-Chair
Konya Lafferty, Committee Co-Chair
Todd Ito
Tom Gaylord
Jamie Sommer, Board Liaison
Clare Hoyt
Thomas Drueke
Eugene Giudice

Objectives

The main charge of the Government Relations Committee is to monitor issues of interest to the law library community and report on those issues to the membership.  The goal was to achieve this through working with GRO to promote UELMA authentication in Illinois, work with the Continuing Education Committee, and by updating CALL’s “Finding Illinois Law Guide.” Continue reading Annual Reports: Government Relations Committee

February 2015 Business Meeting Round-Up

CALL held its third Business Meeting of the year at Morton’s Steakhouse, 65 E. Wacker Place, on February 26, 2015.  President Margaret Schilt called the meeting to order at noon and praised the Meetings Committee for finding a great new venue.  Margaret welcomed one new CALL member, Peter Kaiser from Bloomberg BNA. Continue reading February 2015 Business Meeting Round-Up

Giving Thanks for Kip Kolkmeier’s Efforts to Pass UELMA in Illinois

The CALL Executive Board approved a resolution of thanks that I was pleased to deliver to the Illinois Library Association (ILA) at its annual meeting in Springfield on October 15th.

The well-attended Members’ Meeting was held at 11:30 a.m., and I was there in plenty of time to surprise Kip Kolkmeier, the ILA Legislative Consultant who did more than anyone else to gain passage of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA) in Illinois. Continue reading Giving Thanks for Kip Kolkmeier’s Efforts to Pass UELMA in Illinois

FOIA Reform Amendment in Illinois

Illinois House Bill 3796, which amends the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140), was recently enacted into law as Public Act 98-1129. This bill has been quite controversial, with many opponents arguing that it weakens the current provisions of FOIA. One such opponent was Governor Quinn, who vetoed the bill in its entirety when it came across his desk in June.

In his veto message, Quinn argued that the bill would “make it more difficult for citizens to seek public records” under FOIA while “also slow[ing] down the process for individuals who lack electronic means to request or obtain information.” However, the House and Senate both recently voted to override the Governor’s veto, with the newly-enacted law taking effect immediately.

With the debate being resolved for now, some explanation is in order as to how this law will actually play out for FOIA requests going forward. From the perspective of the Act’s opponents, two provisions of the newly-revised Act are the main causes for concern. Continue reading FOIA Reform Amendment in Illinois

Annual Reports: Government Relations Committee

Submitted July 8, 2014

MEMBERSHIP
OBJECTIVES

Promoting UELMA in Illinois was the main project for the year. Education on UELMA for committee members was accomplished through a handout shared at the September 19 meeting and through the e-bulletins and webcasts of Emily and Elizabeth of the AALL Government Relations Office. Education on UELMA for the community at large was accomplished through the GRC blog.

MEETINGS

The GRC met twice this year in person:

  • September 19, 2013 at the Chicago-Kent Law School
  • March 12, 2014 at the Lake & LaSalle Starbucks

The committee also held various phone meetings with student member Michael Verderame, who was being mentored this year by GRC committee members. Each member was assigned a month to mentor Michael and the arrangements of phone meetings and emails were at the discretion of the mentor and mentee.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
  • UELMA (SB1941) passed the Illinois General Assembly and is awaiting Quinn’s signature.
  • Training was held for WordPress
  • Two government relations articles to the CALL
  • Several committee members contributed blog
  • Mentored student committee member Michael
  • Made the decision to commit to semi-regular update schedule of Finding Illinois Law Guide.