How Does the Election Affect the Arts?
11/19/04
1.How Does the Election Affect the Arts?
2.Happy Thanksgiving!
——————————————————————————–
1. The Affect of the Election on the Arts:
MINNESOTA
On the state level, there will be a shift of thirteen seats from Republican to Democratic control, leaving the house with a split of 68 seats for Republicans, 66 for Democrats. With such a close split, they will have to compromise. It means that neither side can say “my way or the highway” because they need eachother to accomplish anything. On the other hand, with an acrimonious election just a few months behind them, feelings may still run high when session begins. Look for fireworks.
The state will be facing another deficit, perhaps a billion dollars, which means they will either need to raise taxes and/or make cuts to balance the budget again. Gov. Pawlenty has continued to say he will not raise taxes, but there are now only a couple of dozen (out of 201) legislators who have signed the “No New Taxes” pledge. Still, policy wonks are predicting that the solution to the budget deficit will probably not include tax increases, although “fee” increases are highly likely. For the arts, as for all other spending other than education, that means that we will have to be vigilant about fighting off any attempted cuts. We will need a large presence at Arts Advocacy Day in February, and the help of every arts advocate to come out the other end of session in a strong position. Watch for opportunities to use MCA’s DESKTOP LOBBYIST to contact your legislators next session, and join us for Arts Advocacy Day.
U.S. CONGRESS
We won a small increase for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 2003. Minnesota has one of the highest success rates among all the states in competing for grants from National Endowment for the Arts, so it is to our state’s advantage when more funds are appropriated to the Endowment.
According to Americans for the Arts, ÒFederal arts policy is likely to stay on course.Ó No major shifts are anticipated that will negatively impact the arts. President Bush has recommended an $18 million increase to the NEA this year. However, the Interior bill, which funds the NEA, didn’t get passed by the Congress before they broke for the election. This week Congress has returned for a lame duck session to pass the funding bills they didn’t finish this summer, among them the Interior bill. The expectation is that they will roll this and all other funding bills into a giant omnibus bill to get the job done. It’s hard to predict if the NEA increase will survive, although the House has recommended that $10 million of the President’s increase be included in the final bill. We are waiting to find out what the result is.
As for Arts in Education funding, the President zeroed it out, (as he usually does), but it is expected to be funded.
National Arts Advocacy Day will be March 14-15, 2005. If you would be interesting in joining the MCA team in Washington D.C., contact Sheila Smith at 651-251-0868.
——————————————————————————–
2.Happy Thanksgiving!
Let’s give thanks for being a part of the greatest arts community in the country!
——————————————————————————–
Join Our Arts Advocacy Family
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts is funded entirely by the dues of its members. Do you appreciate receiving up to the minute news on the fate of the arts in the Minnesota State Legislature and Congress? We could not provide Arts Alerts if it weren’t for the wonderful and committed arts advocates who show their commitment by joining MCA. You can join by printing out the membership form on our website at http://www.mtn.org/mca. Individual dues are just $30, and a household membership is just $40. Thank you!
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts is a non-partisan statewide arts advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure opportunity for all people to have access to and involvement in the arts. MCA organizes the arts community and lobbies the Minnesota State Legislature and Congress on issues pertaining to the nonprofit arts. If you are interested in learning more about how to advocate for the arts, or how to activate people in your arts organization or community to lobby for the arts, please call us at 651-251-0868 or e-mail mca@mtn.org.
———————————————————
http://www.mtn.org/mca
At our website you’ll find information about Minnesota Citizens for the Arts and how you can be more involved.