URGENT: Timing Critical
04/23/06
1. URGENT: Timing Critical: Calls Needed by 10AM Vote Monday!
After the sneaky move in committee that took the arts out of the Sales Tax dedication bill last Thursday, it will now be heard on the House floor at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, April 24.
These ten crucial legislators will mean the difference for whether or not the arts are put back into the bill. We want to flood their phones with calls! So, whether or not you are their constituent,
Call These Ten Legislators Before 11:00 AM on Monday and Tell them to:
“Include The Arts in the Sales Tax Dedication Bill!”
Rep. Jim Abeler, Dist. 48B (Anoka, Ramsey area): (651) 296-1729
Rep. Dan Dorman, Dist. 27A (Albert Lea area): (651) 296-8216
Rep. Ron Erhardt, Dist. 41A (Edina area): (651) 296-4363
Rep. Ray Cox, Dist. 25B (Northfield area): (651) 296-7065
Rep. Morrie Lanning, Dist. 9A (Moorhead area): (651) 296-5515
Rep. Peter Nelson, Dist. 17B (Lindstrom , North Branch, Taylors Falls area): (651) 296-5377
Rep. Neil Peterson, Dist. 41B (Edina, Bloomington area): (651) 296-7803
Rep. Dean Simpson, Dist. 10B (New York Mills, Perham, Staples area): (651) 296-4293
Rep. Mike Charron, Dist. 56A (Lake Elmo, Stillwater, Woodbury area): (651) 296-4244
Rep. Denny McNamara, Dist. 57B (Cottage Grove, Hastings area): (651) 296-3135
Rep. Larry Howes, Dist. 4B (Backus, Crosslake area): (651) 296-2451
ADDITIONAL NOTE FYI: For those of you who are calling on Sunday, April 23: Four of our targeted legislators don’t have voice mail up today so we’ll have to call them on Monday morning instead when they have staff answering their phones. They are: Reps. Abeler, Dorman, Erhardt, and McNamara. The rest of them have functioning voice mail and can be called today, Sunday, April 23.
More legislators have voted for the arts in committee than against us. If they stick with us we’ll have the votes we need. At Saturday’s rally at the Capitol, the Governor told the fish and wildlife crowd that “No funding crisis exists in the arts community.” He said that the arts don’t have the same needs as hunters and anglers. This was coming from the same governor who recommended cutting 40% of arts funding. In fact, none of those other interests were cut as much as the arts were!
We need to generate as many phone calls as we can before what is expected to be an extremely close vote on the House floor on Monday, from people all across the state who believe the arts are just as important as hunting and fishing. Make these calls ASAP!
If you call on Sunday you can just leave a message as there won’t be anyone in their offices. Or call Monday morning and leave your message with staff. Be sure to tell the staff the vote is up today so you want your message delivered ASAP. Still haven’t taken action to help the arts? Call these legislators ASAP!
So, how does the bill look now?
As I’ve said before, each time the bill is heard in a new House committee, we are dealing with a different set of legislators, but our consistent message is “Include the arts in the sales tax dedication bill!” The Minnesota Senate passed the bill with the arts included on April 3. If we also pass the House floor with the arts in, we will have gotten to conference committee from both sides of the legislature. We have come an incredible distance with this bill but we still have miles to go before we’re done.
Who Benefits:
In the Senate, the bill benefits the arts, conservation, parks and clean water. The House bill now includes only conservation. See below for a list of arts and culture organizations that would benefit. In the arts, the funds would go to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils to go out in grants to artists, arts organizations and arts activities statewide.
How Much Money Are We Talking About?:
In the Senate, the bill would bring the arts around $26 million per year by FY09, and the House version, now $0. (These figures would be up from current funding of $8.5M, or the $12M we had before the massive cuts on 2003). These differences would be hammered out in conference committee if the bill can pass the House floor.
How Is It Paid For?:
Other than the change in beneficiaries, the biggest difference between the two bills now is that the Senate would ask the voters to approve a small additional sales tax (3/8th of 1%, or about 37 cents for each $100 spent). Instead, the House would just designate these funds from “current revenues.” It is this difference between the House and Senate bills that is the most controversial, and which may in the end keep the bill from passing.
2. Background on Arts Bill
You may have heard about a bill that would dedicate sales tax revenue to hunting and angling, the environment, and the arts. This bill would dedicate a small percentage (3/8 of one percent) of state sales tax revenue to arts and culture, hunting and fishing conservation, parks and clean water. The dedication will be done via a constitutional amendment that will have to be passed by voters next November. Minnesota voters have a history of support for this type of referendum, such as the dedication of lottery proceeds to education and the environment. This year’s bill started as a long shot, but due to the grassroots activism organized by MCA and other cultural and outdoors groups, it gained support from members of both parties, and cleared several legislative hurdles.
The Senate has already passed the bill, sponsored by Sen. Dallas Sams. We’re trying to get the House to also pass the bill with the arts included.
The Governor and leaders in the House have voiced support for the hunting/angling portion of the bill. (The House author is Rep. Hackbarth). Democratic leaders in the Senate support the inclusion of the arts, and in fact have stated that the bill will not pass unless the arts are in it. The House and Senate also differ in that the House dedicates current sales tax revenue and the Senate uses new revenue from a small increase in the sales tax.
The cost to the public is minimal. Although the bill changes frequently, as an additional fraction of the sales tax it would cost consumers only 25 to 37 cents for every $100 spent. Minnesota currently appropriates $8.5 million per year to the arts via grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils. As currently written, this bill could potentially double or triple this funding. (This would be more than the arts had before the recent big cuts, which was about $12 million).
Although what is in the bill and what isn’t changes frequently, our message is this: The arts must be a part of any sales tax dedication bill.
You may be interested to know that the bill may dedicate a fraction of the revenue from the state sales tax to all or some of the following:
(Original bill):
Fish and wildlife resources
Parks, trails and zoos, including: state parks
State trails
Metro regional parks and trails
Non-metro regional parks and trails
Minnesota’s zoos
Clean water initiatives
(Our portion):
MN State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils,
MN Historical Society,
Public Television and Public Radio, (MPR is not currently in the House bill)
Science Museum of MN
MN Film Board, and
MN Humanities Commission,
MN Children’s Museum and Duluth Children’s Museum
Sen. Dallas Sams believes that the bill gains more supporters by the inclusion of the arts. The addition of arts and culture funding does not take anything away from the outdoors programs. Sen. Cohen said that marrying the arts initiative to Sams’ conservation measure makes sense. Minnesota’s quality of life, he said, is defined by both of these pursuits. “This might be the only opportunity for years to try to provide an enhancement to these quality-of-life issues for Minnesota.”
Other reasons why this is a good idea:
The Arts and Culture like the environment, hunting and fishing, make Minnesota an attractive place to live and provide fuel for our economic engine. All of the elements in the bill are about contributions toMinnesota’s great quality of life.
In addition, the arts also contribute to the education of our children.
All of the arts and culture areas took bigger hits in the 2003 deficit cuts than almost anything else in the state budget. This bill could restore and increase funding for the arts and culture beyond the funding we had before the cuts.
While it would be a historic step forward for us, the new money would be a tiny fraction of the total state budget.
If passed by the voters, the bill would increase arts funding and lock it in for the next 25 years.
Please ask your legislators to: “Include the arts in the sales tax dedication bill.” You can do it on-line in five minutes at our Desktop Lobbyist .
http://www.mtn.org/mca
Your frequently updated, one-stop site for:
information about Minnesota Citizens for the Arts
how you can get involved
an Action Center called the DESKTOP LOBBYIST where you can write a letter to your legislator
or even find out who your legislators are
facts about the arts in Minnesota
the latest on legislative and congressional action on arts issue
And more!
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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.