Senate Votes to Eliminate Arts & Culture Funding

Yesterday afternoon the Pennsylvania Senate passed its version of the FY 2010 state budget (SB 850) with a 30-20 vote. The bill, introduced on May 4, eliminates all arts and culture grants in the state through the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). While this is an unfortunate occurrence, the budget process isn’t complete yet. The Senate bill now goes with the House of Representatives' proposal into what will likely be a contentious conference committee before its final passage in the General Assembly. The House Bill (HB1416) includes funding for both the PCA and the PHMC, so it is important for anyone who cares about arts and culture to continue to communicate with their legislators about this issue.

The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council would like to thank everyone who took the time to contact their legislators over the last few days. Your efforts did not go unnoticed. We would also like to thank everyone who assisted us in disseminating the call-to-action through their listservs, personal contacts, and other means. We urge you to keep up the pressure. If you have already sent a fax, send an email. If you have already sent an email follow it up with a phone call. We hope that we can count on all of you to respond in a similar fashion to future calls-to-action.

If you have yet to contact your legislators about ensuring that funding for arts and culture is included in the FY09-10 Pennsylvania State budget, we urge you to do so today, before it is too late. To locate your legislators please visit the Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania website.

We have shown our local legislators that the arts and culture sector are a force to be reckoned with, but advocacy is about more than contacting your legislators’ offices when there is a crisis. It is about building a relationship through personal contacts, regular updates on you or your organizations success and letting them know not only that you exist, but that you are watching what they are doing. Be sure to thanks them when the vote favorably for issues that are of importance to you. At the same time, it is equally important to let them know when they vote in a manner that is not representative of your views.

While many of our local Senators voted against SB 850, Senators Pippy and Orie voted for the bill. If you reside in either of their districts I encourage you to call their offices. In addition to expressing your disappointment in their vote, ask them why they voted the way that they did. See how your State Senator voted on SB 850.

The battle for arts and culture funding in the FY09-10 Pennsylvania State Budget is far from over. If you or your organization would like to assist the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council in future advocacy efforts on this or other issues, please contact Ryan Freytag, Manager of Cultural Policy and Research, at rfreytag@pittsburghartscouncil.org.