FILE - Members of the Missouri House debate legislation on March 21, 2023, at the state Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb, File)

Missouri House Republicans voted to defund all of the state’s public libraries, in a proposed $45.6 billion state budget that will soon move to a vote in the GOP-controlled state Senate.

The Missouri House debated for over eight hours last Tuesday on a budget that is roughly $2 billion less than the one Gov. Mike Parson (R) proposed last January, cutting not only the $4.5 million Parson had slated for libraries, but also costs for diversity initiatives, childcare and pre-kindergarten programs.

Missouri House budget committee leader Rep. Cody Smith (R-Carthage) proposed cutting library aid due to a recent lawsuit filed against the state last February. 

The lawsuit — filed by the ACLU of Missouri on behalf of the Missouri Association of School Librarians and the Missouri Library Association — seeks to declare Senate Bill 775 unconstitutional, a bill that has resulted in over 300 books getting banned from school libraries, many of which include LGBTQ characters or racial justice themes. 

The state legislature passed SB 775 last August in an effort to expand rights for victims of sexual assault. But state Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonvile) added an amendment banning educators from “providing sexually explicit material” to students, punishable by up to a $2,000 fine or a year in jail.

Smith argued that the state should not “subsidize” the lawsuit with government aid. But the Missouri Library Association, a nonprofit representing Missouri’s librarians, put out a statement stating they are not providing any funding for this lawsuit, as the ACLU is aiding them pro bono.

“Library funding is guaranteed in the MO constitution,” the group wrote on Twitter. “This tactic, meant to bully MLA into submission, instead directly harms public libraries who rely on those funds, especially the smaller, more rural libraries.”

Democrats also fought in support of the libraries; Rep. Peter Merideth (D-St. Louis) argued that it is “not appropriate” to punish libraries because Republicans are “mad that libraries are suing to question” censorship.

The budget bill has yet to move to a Senate vote then to the governor’s desk, as it still needs its third House reading, which has not yet been scheduled.