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TOPIC: The State Budget results for the Arts Council,
and what your advocacy accomplished.
ACTION URGED: See list below of State Legislators to thank.
DETAILS:
Final Report on the Budget of the NH State Council on the Arts
After the long process of passing the biennial State Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 (which began on July 1, 2009) and FY 2011, we can report on the result of advocacy efforts on behalf of the State Arts Council (also known as the Division of the Arts, in the Department of Cultural Resources). We do so with mixed feelings.
The good news is that advocacy succeeded in gaining a significant improvement in the Council’s funding over the nearly 50% cut originally proposed in the Governor’s budget. Restored funds were designated primarily for the Council’s grants programs, which will be of benefit to hundreds of arts organizations, artists, and school- and community-sponsored arts programs across the state.
We are very grateful to the members of the House Finance Committee, which first approved the restoration of these funds, and the Senate Finance Committee, which maintained them. It is clear that an outpouring of support for the Arts Council from people across the state, especially during House Finance Committee hearings, in addition to timely and effective behind-the-scenes advocacy, was the impetus for this restoration.
The Budget Figures and Their Impact:
The overall budget now includes $602,787 in FY10 and $618,197 in FY11 from the state’s general fund.
The National Endowment for the Arts, through its federal partnership grant, will match the state appropriation, of $602,787 in FY10, bringing the agency’s total budget to $1,205,574 (a decrease of $320,326, almost 21%, below FY09).
In addition, the Arts Council has been awarded one-time funding of $293,100 through the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, the so-called “Stimulus Funds”). ARRA funding, which will be spent over the biennium, does not require a match. All but $50,000 of this money will go out as grants for arts job preservation. Because of the ARRA funding, the Arts Council’s grant awards will actually increase in FY10.
However, the majority of cuts to the Council was in staffing, and this situation improved only slightly from the originally proposed budget. The Council has gone from its complement of 9 staff members in FY09 to 5 in FY10, with one of those staff members only kept at full time with temporary ARRA funds. Positions not funded in FY 10 include the Director, Creative Communities Coordinator, Arts Research Specialist, and Grants and Contracts Technician. The original budget did not include the salary of a Director in either year of the biennium, but through focused advocacy, funds were designated by the House Finance Committee to extend Director Rebecca Lawrence’s term through September of this year, and, by the Senate Finance Committee, to hire an Arts Council Director late in FY 2011. It is expected that Van McLeod, Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Resources, will appoint an Acting Director from the Council’s remaining staff to cover an interim of over a year between full-time directors.
We regret that the staff of the Council has been so severely impacted. In addition to administering grant programs, the Council staff provide important services reflecting their professional expertise and experience to organizations and artists statewide. Some of these services will inevitably be curtailed, but we are sure that the remaining staff members will continue their vigorous and effective work on behalf of the arts in New Hampshire. We commend and thank those who are leaving the Council for their many years of service and especially salute Becky Lawrence, the retiring director, for her 20 years of outstanding service.
Unfortunately, in addition to the current cuts, more reductions may be necessary as the year progresses. NH Citizens for the Arts will monitor this situation carefully, and will continue to communicate with you as necessary.
In the meantime, we thank all who participated in the advocacy effort during the budget process. In a very difficult year for the economy in New Hampshire, we have seen that advocacy can succeed.
ACTION REQUESTED:
Please thank members of the State Legislature for restoring funds to the State Arts Council. You should certainly thank your own Representatives and Senator for their support, since all voted on the final budget. But a brief email message to the following legislators whose leadership in the House and Senate Finance Committees was responsible for introducing and maintaining these restorations is especially important.
House Finance Committee: voted to increase Division of the Arts appropriation by $110,000 for grants and to allow transfer of funds to partially fund Director’s position for FY10. The House Subcommittee was unanimous in approving increase so all should be included in thanks.
Rep. Marjorie Smith, Durham, Chair*, Strafford, District 7,
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Division 1 Subcommittee
Rep. Peter Leishman, Peterborough, Hillsborough/3,
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Rep. Bernard Benn, Hanover, Grafton/9*,
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,
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Rep. Thomas Buco, Conway, Carroll/1*,
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,
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Rep. Neal Kurk, Weare, Hillsborough/7*,
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Rep. Lynn Ober, Hudson, Hillsborough/27*,
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,
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Rep. Eric Anderson, Bow, Merrimack/13, 4 River Rd, Bow, NH, 03304-3309 (no email listed)
Rep. Benjamin Baroody, Manchester, Hillsborough/13, 1175 Bridge St, Manchester, NH, 03104-5703 (no email listed)
Rep. Sandra Keans, Rochester, Strafford/1,
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Rep. Cynthia Dokmo, Amherst, Hillsborough/6,
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Senate Finance Committee: voted to preserve House budget and to partially fund position for Director in FY11 through the transfer of funds within the Arts Division.
Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, Manchester, Chair/ District 20,
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Sen. Sylvia Larsen, Concord, Senate President/ 15*,
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Sen. Harold Janeway, Webster/ 07*,
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Sen. Margaret “Maggie” Hassan, Exeter/23,
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Sen. Kathleen Sgambati, Tilton/04,
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Sen. John Gallus, Berlin/01,
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Sen. Bob O’Dell, Lempster/08,
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Note: *Spoke out publicly in support of increasing appropriation for Division of the Arts
When you write a thank you, please blind-copy:
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. Thank you.
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