Contact Your State Legislators TODAY about the BCPL and Common School Fund!

Please call and email your state  legislators TODAY and share how important the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) and the Common School Fund are to your students. The Joint Finance Committee begins voting on the budget this week and it is vital they hear from every WEMTA member about importance of BCPL and the need to maintain its staffing, funding and investment authority. 

They need to see us, hear us, and understand how important both the Common School Fund and the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands are to the school libraries and communities they represent.


Below are talking points to use during a phone call or email.  If you are not sure who your representative is go to: http://maps.legis.wisconsin.gov

TALKING POINTS: 
Since statehood, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) has managed school trust lands and constitutionally created trust funds for the benefit of public education.  One of these trusts is the Common School Fund.

• Common School Fund earnings are distributed annually to public schools libraries by BCPL. The Common School Fund represents the sole source of state funding for public school libraries. For many school districts, this is the only money available for library materials including books, newspapers and periodicals, web-based resources, and computer hardware and software.

• Thanks to sound stewardship by BCPL,  this year, Wisconsin School Libraries received a record $35.5 million.

• The BCPL generates earnings for the Common School Fund by investing in community projects across the state through the State Trust Fund Loan Program. BCPL has invested more than $1.1 billion dollars in local communities, including over $220 million in economic development projects over the last ten years. These funds help support strong communities by investing in needed infrastructure like new fire trucks and snow plows and  road and sewer projects. 

• Not only does BCPL give much back to Wisconsin communities, it does so without using taxpayer dollars. BCPL is entirely funded by program revenue.

• Please support the important work of the BCPL in our communities and ensure that their staffing, funding, and investment authority remains unchanged.