With the close of the session yesterday afternoon, the House passed HB76, an amendment to the budget that appropriates ancillary funds.

The LPAA was able to get the following funds reinstated in this bill:

1. $750,000 was added back to Decentralized Arts Funding, putting total funding at $2,194,557.

2. $250,000 was added back to Statewide Arts Grants, putting total funding at $589,745.

3. In addition, $65,000 was also placed into arts funding but with direct spending stipulations.

This means that yesterday we regained $1,065,000 in arts funding! We should celebrate this as a small victory for the arts during a time when programs and budgets across the board are being slashed.

This also shows that the LPAA and its lobbyist — with your support from the field — has been able to convey the importance of the arts to our state. Thanks to all who have given time, energy, and money to support us.

On behalf of the LPAA, we also want to thank ALL OF YOU for your help in getting the message across loud and clear. In a year when it was within the realm of possibility to be completely stricken from the budget, your voice helped protect some level of funding for the time being.

Since the session began, YOU have sent 86,430 individual messages — 45,955 in this month alone. Just yesterday morning, you answered our call to action with 4,282 emails to both chambers, making sure that we were amended back into the budget. Again, thank you from all of us!

HOWEVER, at present we are left with a total of only $2,849,302 in Arts Funding – down from $4,831,602. This represents a 42% cut overall from last year. It is particularly important to note that Statewide Arts grants alone took a massive 72% cut!

Perhaps more importantly, $1,600,000 of this funding is one-time federal stimulus money that will not be available again next year!

Please click here to take a minute and send a final message to your legislators, thanking them for their hard work on our behalf, but also letting them know that a bigger battle lies ahead of us.

* * * * *

The strange twists and turns of this year’s budget process:

Last fiscal year, initial budget:
$2,515,120 Decentralized Arts Funding (DAF)
$2,316,482 Statewide Arts Grants (SAG)

Last fiscal year, after mid-year cuts:
$2,324,977 DAF
$2,179,025 SAG

Executive Budget recommendations (from Governor’s office) for the coming fiscal year:
$1,444,557 DAF (45% cut from previous year’s initial budget)
$ 939,745 SAG (55% cut from previous year’s initial budget)

Next step, House Appropriations Committee:
House Appropriations added $750,000 back to DAF
House Appropriations cut $600,000 from SAG

$2,194,557 DAF
$ 339,745 SAG

So, our NET GAIN at this point was only $150,000!

Next step, Senate Finance Committee:
Senate Finance cut $750,000 the House had added for DAF
Senate Finance does not appropriate any additional funds for SAG

$1,444,557 DAF
$ 339,745 SAG

At that point, we were $600,000 DOWN from the executive budget, and 65% year-over-year. SAG at this point was being cut by 85%! That’s where we were until yesterday.

HB 76 yesterday accomplished the following:
Added $750,000 to DAF
Added $250,000 to SAG
Added $65,000 in specified allocations

This puts us back to the following levels:
$2,194,557 DAF
$ 589,745 SAG
$ 65,000 Specified

In other words:
DAF took a 13% cut compared to last year
SAG took a 70% cut compared to last year

Please take a minute to send a message to thank your legislators for their work, but also to remind them that this is simply not enough to support the cultural economy of our State. Make sure they know that we expect more from them next year!

What’s happening:

Legislators will return to the capitol TODAY, Monday, June 21 for a special session in which they discuss HB 76, an amendment to the budget to provide ancillary funding for expenses. We have been told that this could be a way to get funding back.

AT PRESENT WE ARE NOT IN THIS AMENDMENT.

However, we have word that members of the Senate Finance Committee are working toward providing additional funds for the arts.

Send a message RIGHT NOW to your legislators and DEMAND that they:

1. RESTORE $750,000 TO DECENTRALIZED.

2. RESTORE $600,000 TO STATEWIDE ARTS GRANTS THAT HAD BEEN CUT BY THE HOUSE.

3. RESTORE AN ADDITIONAL $750,000 TO STATEWIDE ARTS GRANTS TO OFFSET THE DEEP CUTS IN THE EXECUTIVE BUDGET.

Ask them to do what’s right for their constituents. This is our last chance. The budget session closes TODAY, Monday, June 21 at 6pm.

At that time the budget goes back to the Governor, who may still exercise his veto power — another potential way to lose funding.

Arts funding was also heavily impacted by mid-year cuts in the current fiscal year, further reducing available resources.

CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE NOW

These are tough times: Our coast and waters are fouled with oil and we are fearful about moratoriums and the economic impact this will have.

This is not an either/or decision. This is not about livelihoods versus museums. The funding we are seeking amounts to a total of $4 million — less than the cost of building one mile of single-lane highway! Think about it: do we really value the cultural treasures of our state that little?

The Cultural Economy is a great revenue source for our state, returning more than $7 to the tax base for every $1 allotted from the legislature. This is an important investment in the future of Louisiana.

Our extraordinarily rich culture is — now more than ever — the NUMBER ONE REASON why people will travel to Louisiana. So, let’s not cripple tourism even more than this oil spill disaster already has.

And let us not forget: it was art and culture that brought New Orleans back from the brink after Katrina. It is in the ability of the arts to reflect on what happened, to calm, heal, and inspire that we can see a brighter future again. The arts have the power to generate hope, see us through tough times, and give brief respite from the challenges we face.

HELP PRESERVE THE FUTURE OF ART AND CULTURE IN LOUISIANA!

….AND ONE FINAL CHANCE TO MAKE IT RIGHT!

What has happened:

HB 1, our state budget, passed through House and Senate on Friday, and the Cultural Economy has not fared well:

1. Decentralized Arts Funding has been cut from $2.5 million in the last fiscal year to $1.4 million for the coming year. This represents a 45% cut that will CRIPPLE this important program!

2. Statewide Arts Grants have taken a devastating hit: This program was cut from $2.3 million in the last fiscal year to $340,000 for the coming year. This is a horrifying cut of more than 85%, basically KILLING funding for many of Louisiana’s major nonprofit organizations.

Over the past two weeks, you — the public and constituent base — have sent more than 80,000 individual messages to your legislators. Our senators and representatives certainly can not claim that they didn’t hear your voices.

THERE IS ONE LAST GLIMPSE OF HOPE:

Today legislators will return to the capitol for a special session in which they discuss HB 76, an amendment to the budget to provide ancillary funding for expenses. We have been told that this could be a way to get funding back.

AT PRESENT WE ARE NOT IN THIS AMENDMENT.

Click here to send a message RIGHT NOW to your senators and representatives and DEMAND that they:

1. RESTORE $750,000 TO DECENTRALIZED

2. RESTORE $1.6 MILLION TO STATEWIDE ARTS GRANTS.

Ask them to do what’s right for their constituents.

These are tough times: Our coast and waters are fouled with oil, and we are fearful about moratoriums and the economic impact all of this will have on our state.

This is not an either/or decision. This is not about livelihoods versus museums. The funding we are seeking amounts to a total of $4 million — less than the cost of building one mile of single-lane highway! Think about it: do we really value the cultural treasures of our state that little?

The Cultural Economy is a great revenue source back to our state, returning more than $7 – $1 to the tax base. This is an important investment in the future of Louisiana.

Our extraordinarily rich culture is — now more than ever — the NUMBER ONE REASON why people will travel to Louisiana. So, let’s not cripple tourism even more than this oil spill disaster already has.

And let us not forget: it was art & culture that brought New Orleans back from the brink after Katrina. It is in the ability of the arts to reflect on what happened, to calm, heal, and inspire that we can see a brighter future again. The arts have the power to generate hope, see us through tough times and give brief respite from the challenges we face.

PLEASE HELP PRESERVE THE FUTURE OF ART & CULTURE IN LOUISIANA!