arts alert: There is a Deal – Minnesota Citizens for the Arts

MCA

Minnesota Citizens for the Arts
2233 University Ave. W. #355
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-251-0868 fax 651-917-3561
staff at mncitizensforthearts.org
www.mncitizensforthearts.org
@MnCitizen
Arts Action Center

July 14, 2011

There is a Deal

The Governor and GOP Legislative leadership have agreed to a deal that will end Minnesota’s state government shutdown, which has been the longest in our nation’s history. It remains to be seen if the legislature will approve the deal over the next few days, although the GOP leadership in both the House and Senate are stating that they have the votes in their caucuses to get it done.

The details of the deal are being widely reported, you can catch up on them here: http://www.startribune.com/

As this wraps up, we need to keep an eye on our two bills:

LEGACY

Word has come that the problems with the Legacy bill that kept it from passing at the end of the regular legislative session have been resolved, and we expect that the bill will be one of those that is reintroduced and passed in the special session. (None of the problems that kept the bill from passage had anything to do with the arts). This bill contains about $2M in additional arts funding via the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils.

GENERAL FUND

You may recall that we were successful in reducing the General Fund arts cut in the State Government Finance bill from 20% to 15% during the regular session. We will be working to preserve this position over the next week, and we will keep you appraised if there are further developments that affect the arts appropriation.

We are very pleased that the deal may soon bring an end to the staff layoffs at the Minnesota State Arts Board.

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ABOUT: MCA is a nonpartisan 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 staff at mncitizensforthearts.org. State arts funding supports access to the arts for all Minnesotans. The state-funded Minnesota State Arts Board and eleven Regional Arts Councils provide grants and services in every Minnesota county for artists, arts organizations, arts projects and school artist residencies. For more information on regional or state grants, go to www.arts.state.mn.us.