Bill Dies with New Threat
5/17/04
Arts/Environment Bill Dies With New Threat of Gay Marriage Ban
Overview:
The Arts/Environment Bill that would have dedicated a small percentage of sales tax receipts to the arts and culture died yesterday morning. In all, we did much better in the Senate than in the House, passing out of three Senate committees on strong bipartisan votes.
In the Senate…
At our last report on Tuesday, May 11th, our bill had passed the Senate Finance and Tax Committees and were waiting for a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee. On Friday, May 14th, the Senate Rules Committee passed the Environment and Cultural Heritage bill to the Senate Floor. In that hearing, Sen. Pariseau moved to delete the arts from the bill again, but her motion failed. The bill moved out of committee on a voice vote, so I don’t have a list of who voted with us or against us, but it was noted that Sen. Pariseau voted against final passage of the bill, while friends, Senators Knutson and Frederickson (both Republicans) stayed with the arts throughout the hearing.
We then expected the bill to be heard on the Senate floor some time on Saturday, even though the legislative leadership had not yet settled their differences on the larger budget or bonding bills. It was still possible at that point for our bill to jump the remaining legislative hurdles and become law, although time was running out.
MCA lobbyists Larry Redmond and Brian Halloran, together with the other cultural lobbyists, stayed at the capitol until all hours shepherding the bill along. According to Larry, there were enough votes on the Senate floor to protect the arts and culture if anyone tried to delete us, and we also had enough votes to pass the whole bill if it came up. However, the session dragged on throughout the long night, and the bill was never brought up for a hearing on the Senate floor because there were constant threats that there would be another attempt to add on the ban on gay marriage. If a ban on gay marriage was added to our bill, our bill would die for sure. In the end, the Senate adjourned early Sunday morning without a deal on the budget, the bonding bill, or our bill.
In the House…
In the House, the bill was stalled in the Ways and Means Committee, and never included the arts and culture. It is significant to note that even in its smaller form, the House Ways and Means committee failed to give the bill a hearing. In fact, the House actually scaled the bill back, eliminating the money for parks, trails, clean water, and the zoo. It was the inclusion of the arts and culture in the Senate bill that gave it the life and votes it needed to move forward.
Summary
Although our bill failed to pass the legislature, it was the cultural community’s efforts that advanced this bill substantially farther than it has ever reached in the four to six years that hunters and anglers have worked to pass the bill. Through the grassroots efforts of MCA and our sister cultural organizations, and our professional lobbying, we brought it to life, seeking to increase arts funding farther than we ever had before. In the final hours of the session we came within inches of passing this amendment. Although this time the effort failed, we put a much brighter spotlight on the deficiencies in state funding for the arts community in Minnesota, which will add to our strength next session when the regular state budget is again debated.
In just the past month and a half, over 2000 people sent letters to their legislators using our desktop lobbyist, and over 500 new people have joined our arts alert list. Our coalition is growing! Legislators have learned that there are many Minnesotans who care about the arts, and arts folks have learned how to use the interenet to make their voice heard.
Thank you to everyone who participated. We’d like to send out a special thank you to Senators Dallas Sams, Dick Cohen, Larry Pogemiller, Dennis Frederickson, Dave Knutson, Bob Keirlin, and Geoff Michel, who worked tirelessly for the arts throughout the session.
Next Steps
Will there be a special session? There may be a chance to move the bill forward if there is a special session, although it’s unlikely. Stay tuned.
For more detailed information on the Environment and Cultural Heritage Amendment, check out MCA’s Website. The Arts and Culture portion of the Heritage bill would restore the arts funding cut last year and lock it in for the next 25 years. It lets the voters next November decide on a constitutional amendment that dedicates a small portion of the sales tax to arts, culture, and the environment. -Sheila Smith
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The Bonding Bill
Because of the legislative gridlock, the bonding bill was also not passed. This means that the Shubert Theater (ArtSpace’s project) and Ordway Center were not successful in obtaining bonding funds this year. However, the bill may come back to life in a special session, but they will have to wait and see if the Governor calls legislators back to St. Paul.