Texas SB 13 Left Pending Testimony was heard into the night and early morning in the Texas House, seeing an incredible amount of testimony against the bill. Special shoutout to the booksellers who testified on the harm this bill would do to bookstores and responded to probing questions! Time spent on some early testimony, especially testimony in favor of the bill, meant that at least eight individuals who stayed at the capitol for hours did not have a chance to give testimony. The overreach of the bill was apparent in the testimony and discussion, and we hope the committee will not let the bill pass as-is. Recording Available for “Supporting Trans, Nonbinary, Intersex, and Gender-Nonconforming Staff and Community” Webinar Associate Director of ABFE Philomena Polefrone joined ER Anderson (Charis Circle) and Candice Huber (SIBA, Tubby & Coo’s Traveling Book Shop) for a SIBA webinar on creating a supportive environment for gender-diverse people in bookstores. The recording is available on BookWeb, with access restricted to ABA members and members of regional bookseller associations. Virtual Read-In with AABB and EveryLibrary Authors Against Book Bans and EveryLibrary are teaming up to hold a virtual read-in on Friday, May 9. It focuses on Children’s Literature and protecting the freedom to read. You can register now for the morning session and/or the afternoon session. Please Respond to Important TikTok Survey We need to know how you use TikTok in your business to help us with our advocacy efforts. Please take a moment to answer our TikTok Survey. This survey is critically important to our efforts so please take a moment to respond. For those of you who already submitted answers, thank you! SBA Continues to Partner with Monopolistic Corporations As the Small Business Administration's (SBA) National Small Business Week (NSBW) continues, you should have received an email urging you to reach out to your lawmakers in regards to SBA’s continued partnership with Amazon. The NSBW Virtual Summit has served as no less than a promotional vehicle for these companies. In a promotional video in the virtual exhibit hall, Amazon frames itself, not as a one large company, but as a “network of many small businesses.” You can reach out to your lawmakers about this issue. ABA Joins Coalition Urging Rejection of Medicaid Cuts This week, ABA joined with the Small Business Majority and a number of other organizations, urging in a letter to lawmakers that they reject “any cuts to Medicaid that would make it more difficult and costly for millions of small business owners and their employees to access affordable healthcare coverage.” The letter was sent on the heels of the release of Trump’s budget, which included drastic cuts to healthcare programs. In the letter, the groups stress: “Congress must support entrepreneurs by recognizing the importance of Medicaid for affordable healthcare options and to staunchly oppose any cuts to the program that would inevitably force small business owners and employees to pay more for coverage or lose it entirely.” |
