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arts alert: Good News From the Legislature…For Now
MCA
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
March 12, 2010
1. Some Good News from the Legislature….So Far
2. Watch “Because You Voted Yes,” Now On-Line
3. BACKGROUND: Governor’s Proposed Arts Cuts are Too Deep – And Contrary to the Will of Minnesota Voters
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1. Some Good News from the Legislature….So Far
Both Sen. Tomassoni and Rep. Murphy have come out with their counter-proposals to the Governor’s draft budget. We are pleased to report that neither the House or Senate Divisions have so far gone along with the Governor’s proposal to get rid of the State Arts Board. Instead, the Senate bill would reduce the arts cuts to 3 and 5 percent in FY2010 and FY2011, respectively. Even better, the House’s bill reduces the cuts to 3 percent in both years. Either proposal would be close to the average cut to all state agencies, exactly what we had requested.
There is still a long way to go and lots of factors that will determine where we will end up. But this is an excellent start! Thanks to both Sen. Tomassoni and Rep. Murphy for getting the ball rolling in the right direction.
Thanks also to everyone who met with or wrote to their legislators as part of Arts Advocacy Day. You really are making a difference. You can still help the arts by sending letters to your legislators here: Arts Action Center.
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2. Watch “Because You Voted Yes,” Now On-Line
The public TV station in Austin, MN, has produced a great show about how the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment got passed and what it means for the arts. They did a really great job, and not just because they included an interview with me:
Check it out on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoRyLwQzeok. (If the link doesn’t get you there, search for “KSMQ Because You Voted Yes.”
Thanks also to Matt Peiken of 3 Minute Egg, who interviewed some of our Republican legislators on Arts Advocacy Day to gauge their response to our visits. Check out his great video at: http://blip.tv/file/3292443
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3. BACKGROUND: Governor’s Proposed Arts Cuts are Too Deep – And Contrary to the Will of Minnesota Voters
The Following Op-Ed Appeared First on Minnpost.com:
We are in difficult times. The arts, like every other part of society, are participating in those difficult times, with rising unemployment and shrinking budgets, during which arts organizations are trying to provide the same services with fewer resources.
This week Gov. Pawlenty revealed his plan to solve the state’s budget deficit. While he proposed that other state agencies take 3-6% cuts, he would cut the Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) and Regional Arts Council (RAC) system by 33% in 2011 and 66% in 2012. Even more troubling, he would eliminate all general fund support by 2013, and then convert the State Arts Board to a private corporation.
Unfortunately his plan is out of proportion to the state deficit as well as to cuts to other areas. We recognize that the arts need to do our part to help solve the state’s deficit, but this means taking the same level of cuts as the rest of the budget, and not ten times more. Even more important, if the small funding for the arts is eliminated it would do almost nothing to solve the state’s deficit. So there really isn’t any point.
In 2008, when we Minnesotans passed the outdoors and arts amendment, we approved dedicated funding for the arts.
As someone who worked on the Vote Yes! campaign with many conservation and arts advocates, I was inspired by the overwhelming number of voters who affirmed that the arts are a defining feature of Minnesota. It showed that we value the arts and our great outdoors that we will take direct action to protect our quality of life.
The proposed cut does not affect the separate Legacy funding from the constitutional amendment, which reinforces the wisdom of the citizens of Minnesota in creating a dedicated source of funding that can’t just disappear.
But the Governor’s proposed budget has proven exactly why we needed to pass the amendment. The proposal is the opposite of the will of Minnesota’s voters to secure funding for the arts. And wisely, in order to guard against just this kind of budget “bait and switch” the constitutional language wisely says that amendment resources can’t be used as a substitute for current state funding from other sources.
Just think how our hunting and angling friends would react if the governor proposed deleting all conservation resources except for the Clean Water, Land and Legacy amendment. There would be blaze orange riots in the streets.
In addition, as the MSAB deals almost exclusively with public funds, making it a private corporation would remove much of the state’s oversight and checks and balances on these dollars (such as the Open Meeting Law) which we think is very unwise.
Just this month the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils are launching the new grant programs made available by the amendment. Through extensive public input, from meetings across the state to on-line surveys, they collected the dreams and wishes of Minnesotans on what the Legacy money could do to create a more vibrant and accessible arts environment in our state. The result is a two-layer vision: local grants provided by the eleven Regional Arts Councils, and grants of statewide and regional significance to be provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board. Applications for the most part are due this month, and grants will be made in every county. (For more info, go to www.arts.state.mn.us/grants/machf.htm and www.arts.state.mn.us/racs/index.htm).
So what does this mean to you, the average Minnesotan? You will see, over the next several years, a flowering of opportunities to experience and participate in the arts. There is no doubt that the result of the amendment will be increased access to the arts in every corner of the state.
However, like everything else in the state budget, the arts will lose some ground this year. We hope that in fairness it will be more proportionate to cuts to other agencies.
In the meantime, we must convince the Governor and Legislature to just follow the people’s will and let the Amendment work.
Sheila Smith is Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts and was a member of the leadership team on the VoteYes! campaign.
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