Payments; Federal share; and maintenance of effort requirements

Subject to appropriations provided pursuant to section 9123 of this title, the Director shall pay to each State library administrative agency having a State plan approved under section 9134 of this title the Federal share of the cost of the activities described in the State plan. The Federal share shall be 66 percent. The non-Federal share of payments shall be provided from non-Federal, State, or local sources. The amount otherwise payable to a State for a fiscal year pursuant to an allotment under this part shall be reduced if the level of State expenditures, as described in paragraph (2), for the previous fiscal year is less than the average of the total of such expenditures for the 3 fiscal years preceding that previous fiscal year. The amount of the reduction in the allotment for any fiscal year shall be equal to the allotment multiplied by a fraction— Any decrease in State expenditures resulting from the application of subparagraph (B) shall be excluded from the calculation of the average level of State expenditures for any 3-year period described in clause (i). If the amount made available under this subchapter for a fiscal year is less than the amount made available under this subchapter for the preceding fiscal year, then the expenditures required by subparagraph (A) for such preceding fiscal year shall be decreased by the same percentage as the percentage decrease in the amount so made available. The level of State expenditures for the purposes of paragraph (1) shall include all State dollars expended by the State library administrative agency for library programs that are consistent with the purposes of this subchapter. All funds included in the maintenance of effort calculation under this subsection shall be expended during the fiscal year for which the determination is made, and shall not include capital expenditures, special one-time project costs, or similar windfalls. The Director may waive the requirements of paragraph (1) if the Director determines that such a waiver would be equitable due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances such as a natural disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial resources of the State.