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Urgent Advocacy Initiatives—Fall 2026
FCC Considers Changes to E-Rate Funding
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to conduct a top-to-bottom evaluation of E-Rate, the largest federal program connecting schools and libraries. Approved by a 2-1 vote led by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the review explores scaling back or sunsetting the program now that near-universal connectivity goals have been met.
Impact on Monterey County Free Libraries
E-Rate discounts currently allow Monterey County Free Libraries (MCFL) to pay just 10–15% of standard costs for internet service and equipment. Losing these discounts would severely strain the library system's budget and reduce local digital equity.
Take Action During the Reply Comment Window: The FCC’s initial public comment period closed on October 13, 2026, but a 30-day reply comment window is now open. You can file comments directly into the FCC database to help preserve and modernize E-Rate:
File via the FCC: Submit your response using the FCC Electronic Comment System. Be sure to include all four E-Rate docket numbers: 26-133, 13-184, 21-93, and 21-455.
Use the ALA Template: Download and adapt the American Library Association's Save Our E-Rate Template.
Contact Your Representatives: Let your local, state, and federal legislators know you support preserving E-Rate.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has already sent a formal letter opposing these proposed cuts to the FCC, with copies to Senators Padilla and Schiff and Congressman Jimmy Panetta. Please join us in urging decision-makers to modernize E-Rate rather than dismantle it!
COMPASS Defunding
During the 2026 budget negotiations, the California Legislature took out $5.5 million in funding for COMPASS and we are spearheading a drive to let legislators know we don’t agree with their decision.
In 2017 California State Library instituted the The California Online Media Program for Access and Student Success (COMPASS) which provides online school-library resources—such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Gale, and ProQuest—free to all public schools, charter schools, and local public libraries. https://www.library.ca.gov/services/to-public/k-12-online-content-project/. According to the California State Library website 90% of California schools and all public libraries are participants, and between 2017 and Summer 2025, COMPASS provided 717 million unique searches for information. COMPASS contains superior sources of unbiased information needed to complete research and school projects. Without access to these databases, students often depend on information provided on the greater internet which may be false, biased or politically skewed. Instead COMPASS resources are indexed collections of newspaper, journal and magazine articles that are curated to assure accuracy and are licensed by their creators.
Write to our State Assembly people and insist they reconsider. Everylibrary link: https://www.saveschoollibrarians.org/compass2026 .
If COMPASS funding is not restored, the digital divide in Monterey County will widen. Students in our rural and under-resourced communities will lose access to the vetted, safe homework materials they rely on.
Recent Advocacy Success
Early in the Trump Administration, Executive Order 14238 directed the elimination of seven Federal agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), by defunding their non-statutory components and functions. The immediate action of advocacy groups, like FMCFL, of writing and calling our legislators to protest the action resulted in lawsuits to reverse the Executive Order. Through the past year, advocacy pressure on Congress to protect the IMLS has never abated.
As of June 4, 2026, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies approved level funding of $291.8 million to keep the IMLS fully functional. The American Library Association reported Lawmakers explicitly credited public pushback for the swift legislative rescue.
https://www.ala.org/news/2026/06/house-approps-FY27
Updated October 17, 2026