arts alert: MCA Successfully Kills Cuts to the Arts
Monday, May 19th, 2008MCA
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts
2233 University Ave. W. #355
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-251-0868 fax 651-917-3561
staff at mncitizensforthearts.org
www.mncitizensforthearts.org
Arts Action Center
May 19, 2008
1. MCA Sucessfully Kills Cuts to the Arts at Session’s End
2. Join Us for the VOTE YES Campaign Launch!
3. Things I Learned at the Governor’s Fishing Opener
4. Volunteers Needed/Upcoming Events in the Arrowhead and St. Cloud
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1. MCA Sucessfully Kills Cuts to the Arts at Session’s End
We are happy and proud to report that we have successfully killed a proposed cut to arts funding. When we last reported the goings-on at the state capitol, the arts were facing a cut of $175,000 from the Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) and Regional Arts Councils (RAC) budgets. This funding reaches every Minnesota county in grants and services from the MSAB and RACs. This is very significant because the state faced a nearly billion dollar deficit and many, many other programs received cuts. Thank you to all of our many great arts advocates from around the state who joined us at Arts Advocacy Day or called or wrote to their legislators at pivotal moments. You were all a part of this successful outcome. Thank you also to our lobbyists Larry Redmond and Brian Halloran, who spent many sleepless nights at the Capitol over the past month to protect the arts. Go Team!
In addition to protecting arts funding this session, our biggest success was to pass the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment on Arts Advocacy Day. Those of us who were lucky enough to be in the House and Senate balconies when the final votes were made will never forget being a part of this historic day! Since then, we have been extremely active on a variety of issues having to do with the constitutional amendment, including getting the statewide campaign organized to pass it in November on Election Day.
TAX ISSUES: Because of the state’s large deficit, there were many discussions on taxes affecting non-profits:
• Several times this session there were discussions about eliminating the the sales tax exemption for nonprofit tickets, but we prevented any changes to current law. A change in this area would have a huge and negative impact on nonprofit performing arts organizations in Minnesota.
• We also dealt with two local sales tax initiatives that potentially could have set a bad precedent in allowing local municipalities to tax non-profits in areas that the state does not. Both of these issues were resolved favorably.
• The third tax front had to do with the fall-out from a Supreme Court decision about nonprofit property taxes. With the leadership of Marcia Avner at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, we successfully obtained a moratorium on any changes in nonprofits’ property tax exempt status that might result from the December 2007 decision in Under the Rainbow. We will be meeting with nonprofits and with the Department of Revenue and assessors this summer to work on language for a more permanent legislative solution for 2009.
The final language of the moratorium includes the following text:
Moratorium on changes in assessment practices.
(a) An assessor may not change the current practices or policies used generally in assessing property of institutions of purely public charities.
(b) An assessor may not change the assessment of the taxable status of an existing property of an organization of purely public charity, unless the change is made as a result of a change in ownership, occupancy or use of the facility, or to correct an error. For currently taxable properties, the assessor may change the estimated market value of the property.
(c) This subdivision expires on the earlier of:
(1) the enactment of legislation establishing criteria for the property taxation of purely public charities; or
(2) adjournment of the 2009 regular legislative session to a date in calendar year.
So, thanks to all for another successful legislative year! The next step is to make sure everyone votes “YES” on the Clean Water, Land and Legacy amendment this November…
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2. Join Us for the VOTE YES Campaign Launch!
Please come and join Vote Yes Minnesota
in support of
The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment
When: Tuesday, May 27, 2008
2:00 PM
Where: Hyland Lake in Hyland Park Preserve
10145 Bush Lake Road, Bloomington, MN
Click here to locate the park
RSVP to Justin Fay at justin@yesformn.org or 651-644-2088×15
Please join us in our official campaign kick-off. We will hear from prominent supporters on the need to protect our clean water, game and wildlife habitat, arts and parks and trails. This will be a great day to show your support for the amendment, and enjoy a spring day in a beautiful park. Hyland Park is a local treasure that displays all of the wonderful things that we want to protect. This will be a great opportunity to visit with your friends and neighbors about why you support the amendment. Free refreshments will be served.
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3. Things I Learned at the Governor’s Fishing Opener
1. Everybody, whether they fish or not, loves “VOTE YES” bobbers.
2. Blaze orange looks good on just about everyone, if you have a good attitude about it.
3. 40% of Minnesota’s lakes and streams that have been tested are polluted. What?!! You are kidding me!
4. You can check to see if the lake you live or play on is polluted at www.checkmylake.org.
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4. Volunteers Needed/Upcoming Events
A. Volunteers Needed!
We’ve been having fun marching in the May Day parade and giving out bobbers to sportsmen at the Governor’s Fishing Opener. (We’ll get pictures on-line soon). Our Vote Yes campaign is planning to make a a big splash at many fun civic events over the summer. Come be a part of the fun and volunteer! We have lots going on that we could use help with, most of these are ongoing needs.
Letters to the Editor writers – we have 28 dailies across the state and 79 weeklies – all of which we would love to get letters in to. If you can help by getting a letter to the Editor in a daily or weekly paper near you – please contact Charlie Poster at 651-644-2088 x13 or email him charlie@yesformn.org. We will provide sample letters and/or talking points to help make it easier for you.
Host a house party
We are looking for individuals who would be willing to host a small gathering where we can talk to small groups of people about the campaign and the amendment. If you would be interested in hosting a house party, please contact Laura Nevitt at 651-644-2088 x11 or email laura@yesformn.org
Phonebanking
We phonebank every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 6pm-9pm here at the office. We call volunteers and supporters to ask for their help or let them know about activities that the campaign is doing. If you can come help make calls for even just an hour, it helps so much. If you can help make calls – please get in contact with Laura Nevitt at 651-644-2088 x11 or email laura@yesformn.org and we will get you signed up for a shift.
Farmers Market
Every Thursday afternoon from 11:30am to 1pm we are at the Nicollet Mall Farmers Market handing out lit, signing up volunteers and talking to people about the amendment. If you can join us on any given Thursday – please contact Laura Nevitt at 651-644-2088 x11 or email laura@yesformn.org and sign up for a Thursday shift. If you can’t join us on Thursdays, but would be willing to go to any of the many Farmers Markets around the state – we have flyers we can email you that you can take and hand out – just let me know.
Looking Ahead: June 28 & 29 – TC Pride Festival and Parade
If you are having an event and would like to pass out lit on the amendment or include language in your program, please let us know and we’ll get you what you need.
The success of this campaign depends on volunteers such as yourself helping to spread the word and making this campaign visible. Thank you all so much for your continued support and help.
The Campaign Website is up!
Take a look and take action now by joining the growing campaign at www.YesforMN.org.
B. This Week in the Arrowhead and St. Cloud:
Meetings have been organized to bring together folks from the conservation and arts communities in the Arrowhead and St. Cloud to bring everyone up to speed on the Vote Yes campaign. More meetings will be scheduled around the state over the next few months. As someone who cares about conservation and the arts in Minnesota, you are invited to one of three special insider’s meetings being organized by Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, the Vote Yes Minnesota campaign, David Marty at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids and Barb Darland at the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra.
On November 4, Minnesotans will have a once in a lifetime chance to secure dedicated funding for clean water, land conservation and the arts with a constitutional amendment. You want to know what’s going on, and we want to fill you in on plans for the Vote Yes Minnesota campaign, recent (very encouraging!) confidential polling results, and a discussion of how we will spread the word in the arts and conservation communities. So, please join us at:
1. May 21: Duluth Black Woods Grill and Bar, 2525 London Rd., 4:00 p.m.
2. May 21: Reif Center, 720 Conifer Drive, Grand Rapids, 10:30 a.m. Please RSVP for any of the above meetings to:
Vote Yes at 651-644-2088 x18 or to donna@yesformn.org. or by replying to this email.
3. May 22: Paramount Visual Arts Center, 913 W. St. Germain, St. Cloud, 2:00 p.m., sponsored by the Central Minnesota Arts Board. For the St. Cloud meeting, please RSVP to: MCA by replying to this email or call the CMAB at 320.968.4290.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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