arts alert: Guess Which MN Representative Got an “F” on the Arts?
Tuesday, September 23rd, 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
September 21, 2008
45 Days Until the Election…
1. Guess Which MN Member of Congress Got an”F” on the Arts?
2. The Top Six Ways Your Organization Can Help ‘Vote Yes’
3. Nominations for MCA’s Board Now Open
4. Tell the State Arts Board What You Think
5. Volunteers Needed
6. Spread the Word
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1. Guess Which MN Member of Congress Got an”F” on the Arts?
This week our national partner Americans for the Arts put out their Congressional Arts Report Card, and the results for Minnesota were both encouraging and disappointing. So, which member of Congress from Minnesota stood out with that “F” grade? Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R) of CD6 (northern TC suburbs and central MN). This is quite an honor, because members were rated on 10 potential votes and actions that could have helped the arts in Minnesota, and in order to get and “F” you have to do the wrong thing 10 times.
But here’s the good news: Three Minnesota members got an “A+” grade. That’s three out of eight of our members of Congress, an astonishing success because only 36 “A+” grades were given in the entire house of Representatives of 435 members. Our “A+” members are Betty McCollum of CD4 (St. Paul), retiring member Jim Ramstad (R) of CD3 (western TC suburbs), and Collin Peterson (D) of CD7 (western and northwest MN). But there is more good news! Three other members got a solid “A”, they include Reps. Keith Ellison (D) of CD5 (Minneapolis), James Oberstar (D) of CD8 (NE MN) and Tim Walz (D) of CD 1 (Southern MN). Thanks to all for their tremendous, wonderful support.
Oh, and Rep. John Kline (R) of CD2 (southern TC suburbs) got a “C” because he voted against eliminating NEA funding but then voted for cutting it.
Over in the U.S. Senate, grades were not given this year because there was no direct vote on the arts. Both of Minnesota’s Senators, Amy Klobuchar (D) and Norm Coleman (R) are members of the Senate Cultural Caucus. Sen. Coleman serves as Co-Chair.
Here’s more good news: MCA has surveyed all candidates for the MN State House of Representatives (state level offices, not federal), and we will be posting their reponses soon on our website, so when you go to vote this November you will be more educated about how all the candidates stand on the arts. We’ll get out an alert when it’s up and ready for reading.
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2. The Top Six Ways Your Organization Can Help Pass the Amendment
As we hit the homestretch of the Vote Yes Minnesota campaign, our decade-long effort to protect the Minnesota we love is at its peak. Below are the six most important things your arts organization can do:
1. Take Election Day off to Help Promote the Amendment
Election Day visibility is a huge task that must be successful if our campaign is to ultimately be successful. The more individuals we have that are able to help out, the more precincts at which we can have an effective, visible presence. By donating staff and volunteer time to this effort, your organization can help reach voters as they are heading to the polls and make a very direct impact in support of the Amendment. This is an absolutely critical component of the campaign’s plan for success on November 4.2. Sponsor a Phone Bank Night
In terms of efficiency and effectiveness, there is no substitute for directly contacting voters about the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. The campaign will be conducting phonebanks from 6pm to 9pm every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings between August 16 and the election. However, this effort will only be successful if we have enough volunteer callers to reach our full target audience. Committing to staff a regular number of phone lines per week is the most effective way that your organization can help to reach key swing voters in support of the Amendment.3. Organize Lit-Drop Days
Beginning on August 16, the Vote Yes campaign will be doing lit drops every Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday through the election. In order to maximize effectiveness, these lit drops require significant volunteer help. Making an organizational commitment to conduct 5 lit drops before November 4 is a great way to contribute to the overall campaign effort. Many hands make light work!4. Coordinate Communications with Your Membership
Individuals who are already members of organizations such as yours are among the strongest supporters of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. It is vital that these folks know about the Amendment and the ways that they can help support it between now and this November. The campaign has a variety of tools to assist in this effort, including draft newsletter templates and other communications materials. By compiling a list of communications opportunities and deadlines for reaching your membership, you can help ensure that the campaign is not missing opportunities to reach this critical audience!5. Commit to Assisting with the Campaign’s Blog
Continuously developing new content is one of the most important factors in crafting an effective website. To that end, our campaign is committed to making a minimum of three new blog entries every week between now and Election Day. Committing your organization to making a blog entry or two will help us to meet this goal. This is a great way to share with a broader audience why the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment is important to your organization and how you are participating in the effort to pass it!6. Make a Financial Contribution to the Campaign
Many of our endorsing organizations have committed to making a financial contribution to the campaign. Organizations are giving what they can; some are contributing a percentage based on their annual budgets, some are hosting fund raising receptions or asking their board, staff and volunteers to make contributions online.
Contact Justin at 651-644-2088 or justin@yesformn.org to organize any of them.
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3. Nominations for MCA’s Board Now Open
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts is soliciting nominations for its Board of Trustees. Terms begin November, 2008 and will last for two years. Half of MCA’s 36 board members must come from the Twin Cities metro area, and half from Greater Minnesota. Interested? Fill out the form below and return it by October 1, 2008 by email, fax, or by snail mail to the above address.
MCA seeks board members who:
- Have a willingness to work, volunteer and come to our meetings.
- Are people with political connections, political strategists, and people with an understanding of the political process, or are willing to learn
- Have mix of party affiliation
- Provide balance in terms of the size or type of organizations represented on the board (large, medium, small, arts education, individual artist, etc.)
- Have clout within their organizations and/or peers, and have the ability and willingness to communicate about the need for arts advocacy
- Provide other balances in terms of representing the state or the arts community (ie diversity in terms of age, race, etc).
- Your nomination to the board is more likely to be successful if you are a paid member of MCA and if you have previously been a part of Arts Advocacy Day or volunteered for the cause in some other way. (Please do not nominate someone else unless you have discussed it with them first, and they have provided an answer to the question “Why do you want to be on the MCA board?).
- Nominate Yourself for MCA’s Board by Oct. 1
____________________________________________________________ ______________________________
MCA Board Nomination Form
NOMINEE NAME:
Home Address:
Work Address:
Home Phone:
Work Phone:
Organization (If appropriate):
Title (If appropriate):
Legislative District # (If unknown, MCA can identify it for you):
Experience with your local arts community:
Political Experience (desired, but not necessary):
Why are you interested in serving on the MCA Board of Trustees?
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4. Tell the State Arts Board What You Think
Can the Arts Help Your Community Thrive?
The Minnesota State Arts Board and Minnesota’s eleven regional arts councils want to hear your opinions about needs and resources in your community, and how the arts can help your community thrive. Your response will help ensure that the services the Arts Board and regional arts councils provide over the next several years will be valuable to all Minnesotans
Please follow the link to http://www.theimprovegroup.
Complete the survey by Friday, October 3, 2008, to enter a prize drawing with cash prizes and gift certificates valued from $100 to $500! This survey is being managed by an independent research firm, the Improve Group, to keep your responses anonymous and confidential. Contact Susan at the Improve Group with any questions: toll-free telephone (877-467-7847) or e-mail susanm@theimprovegroup.com
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4. Volunteers Needed!
Just 44 Days until the election, and we have miles to go. How many people have you talked to today about the Amendment? Do you want to wake up on Nov. 5 with regrets that maybe you could have done something that you did not do?
Although our polling has consistently shown that we have enough support from Minnesotans to pass the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, we are on the razor’s edge. In Minnesota, in order to pass the amendment, we must get a “yes” vote from more than 50% of the citizens who vote that day. If they do not go over and vote “YES” on the amendment, the government will vote “NO” for them. Leaving the question blank counts as a “no” vote. Yikes! How many first time voters will there be on election day? How many young, idealistic college students will be going to the voting booth for the first time who may not know about the Amendment? We need to reach out to every young person we know, and make sure they know about the amendment. Young people support this measure in large numbers, once they know about it. It’s up to us to make sure they do.
So, get out here and start talking!
For a list of other things you can do, check out the “Arts Squad” list below.
Join the ARTS SQUAD as we run around the state doing lit drops to help pass the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment that could triple state funding for the arts! We will meet almost every Saturday from until the election on Nov. 4 at MCA’s offices in St. Paul and then travel out to do a three hour lit drop somewhere in the state. This weekend we’ll be in Mankato, Sept. 27 and Oct. 18 in St. Paul, Oct. 4 in St. Cloud, Oct. 11 in Rochester, Oct. 25 in St. Peter, and Oct. 31 in Northfield, times TBA. Come make a difference with us! Contact Shaylie at MCA, 651-251-0868 or shaylie@mncitizensforthearts.
AND MORE…BE A PART OF IT ALL, STATEWIDE:
Host a house party
Can you 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 Justin Fay at 651-644-2088 or email justin@yesformn.orgInvite a Speaker to Your Events
One of the best ways to spread the word is to invite someone from MCA or the Vote Yes! campaign to talk to your board, staff group, or civic organization. You can just respond to this email if you would like to have someone come to your meeting or event.Phonebanking
As the election draws closer, our focus will increasingly shift to direct voter contact. A large crew of volunteers who are willing to donate an occasional evening to help contact folks about the Amendment are necessary in order for the campaign to be successful. Individuals willing to join us for a few hours of phoning should contact Justin Fay for more information – justin@yesformn.orgLetters 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.Signs and Literature
If you’ve got windows on a busy street, we have window signs available at the campaign office. We also have literature you can put out or pass out at public events. Contact Donna at 651-644-2088 or donna@yesformn.org to get stuff for your organization.And, Finally, Sign up Here
to get notice of all of the volunteer opportunities and news from the campaign: http://my.conservationminnesota.org/ site/PageNavigator/YesMN
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5. Spread the Word: Article About the Amendment for Your Next Newsletter
You Can Help the Arts!
On November 4th, 2008 Minnesota voters will have a chance to Vote Yes to dedicated funding for clean water and the arts.
Arts and Culture: a good investment for every Minnesota Community.
The arts and culture bring us a high quality of life in Minnesota. Every corner of our state is home to important arts, music and theater programs that educate, entertain and bring our communities together. Minnesotans participate in the arts at a higher rate than other states. Our 1400 nonprofit arts and culture organizations serve millions of Minnesotans and contribute over a billion dollars annually to Minnesota’s economy. Minnesota’s arts and history need to be maintained, protected and passed on to future generations.
The arts get cut at the legislature every time there is a budget squeeze.
The arts and clean water need stable and long term sources of funding. While the arts are a very tiny part of the state’s budget, they are slashed every time the state has a deficit. In fact, we lost 32% of state arts funding in 2003. Few other items in the state budget were cut as much as the arts. A ‘yes’ vote means arts funding could triple throughout all of Minnesota.
The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment will preserve Minnesota’s clean water, great outdoors, arts and history for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.
Here’s how it will appear on your ballot November 4th:
“Clean Water, Wildlife, Cultural Heritage, and Natural Areas
Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate funding to protect our drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore our wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve our arts and cultural heritage; to support our parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore our lakes, rivers, steams, and groundwater by increasing the sales and use tax rate beginning July 1, 2009, by three-eighths of one percent on taxable sales until the year 2034? YES_____ NO _______ ”
Remember: If you skip this question, your vote will count as a “NO” VOTE.
On November 4th make your voice heard and Vote Yes to protect the Minnesota you love!
We May Never Get This Chance Again.
To see who’s endorsed the amendment, sign-up to help the cause, or find out more info go to www.yesformn.org. Or call the VOTE YES! office at (651) 644-2088.
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