Missouri Lawmaker Calls Attempt To Defund Libraries ‘Blackmail’

(MISSOURINET) – Missouri House Budget Committee Chair Cody Smith has removed all 4.5-million-dollars in state funding for libraries from the latest version of the state budget proposal. He opposes the Missouri Library Association, the ACLU, and the Missouri Association of School Libraries suing the state over a Missouri law that limits what materials can be in school libraries. State Representative Adrian Plank, a Democrat from Columbia, calls Smith’s action “blackmail.”

Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Lincoln Hough (huff), a Republican from Springfield, reportedly plans to add the state funding to libraries back into the budget proposal.