Bill Containing Arts Cuts Delayed Until Thursday
May 1, 2001
Holy cow, can we make a fuss when we want to or what?
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING: The House has delayed hearing the bill - HF218, the State Government Finance Bill, on the House floor until Thursday. At first we thought it was because we were making so much fuss, but apparently it’s for procedural reasons. That gives you another day to call your legislator if you haven’t had a chance to do it yet. You should know that the House phone system crashed several times yesterday because so many calls were coming in. You can all pat yourselves on the back for doing such a great job!
We’ve coordinated dozens of people who combined made over 3000 calls into targeted districts to get people to call their legislators in 48 hours. In addition, we got permission from over 200 people to put their name on a “Put the Arts Money Back!” letter that will be delivered to legislator desks on the House floor when the bill is finally heard. We’ve all worked well into the night and through the weekend for the last week. We’re getting tired but you can’t say we haven’t done all that we could.
The 14,000 piece postcard campaign was completely out by last Wednesday (in about two days), thanks to a bunch of people who volunteered to label and stamp them. Postcards began reaching legislators by at least last Thursday, and we’ve gotten around 400 confirmation postcards back to our office so far from people who sent it in. The timing for the postcards couldn’t be better. From previous experience we know that they will come in a long wave over about two weeks, which means they will continue to arrive through the conference committee meeting period.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT:
The bill will probably be heard on Thursday.
If you haven’t had a chance to call your legislators yet, you still have time.
Tell them to “Put ALL the arts money back!”
If you need your legislator’s name and number, give us a call at 612-338-2970.
BACKGROUND: HF 218, authored by Rep. Phil Krinkie, originally included a $10 million cut in arts funding. Last Friday Rep. Dan McElroy authored a motion in the Ways and Means Committee which restored $5 million of the funding, reducing the damage to a $5 million cut. The House position will result in deficits for many arts organizations. The cut comes specifically out of the Minnesota State Arts Board grant programs, which include the following: Arts in Education, Arts Across Minnesota, General Operating Support and Formula Funds, Presenter Assistance, Arts Midwest, Folk Arts, and individual artist support programs. In addition, Rep. Krinkie added language to the bill that would prevent any organization from receiving more than $100,000 per year in grants, even if it is from different programs with different purposes.