Arts funding on the line

The state Senate begins its budget deliberations this week and a proposed line item increase should be of particular interest to Berkshire County.

Sen. Ben Downing (D-Pittsfield) and others are seeking a boost in funding for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the state agency that offers grants, fellowships and other direct support to artists, schools and non-profits, as well as funding for the local cultural councils in each of the state’s 351 cities and towns.

Funding for the MCC has been on a roller coaster the last dozen years but has mostly been going down.

Twelve years ago, this state agency reached its high point with an annual appropriation over $20 million. Since then, the faltering economy has forced cutbacks for Bay State arts programming, along with many other non-entitlement programs. In the current fiscal year, arts funding is less than half what it was in 2001.

Gov. Deval Patrick proposed level funding in his new budget and the leadership of the House of Representatives went along with that in its proposal. But arts supporters deluged the House with protests, and with the support of Berkshire County’s four state representatives, the House upped its appropriation to $11 million in its final budget.

So far so good.

But the Senate leadership, in its proposal, knocked that number back down to the current fiscal year amount. So now Downing and other senators from areas of the state that depend on the arts are trying to get the full Senate to $12.5 million, even more than the House’s final number.

Once the Senate passes its funding bill, both houses will join together in a conference committee to agree on the overall budget, and this will then go to Patrick. Unlike the U.S. president, the Massachusetts governor does have a line item veto, and he can selectively veto or reduce appropriations like the MCC budget. But those vetoes can be overridden by a super majority in the House and Senate, and this has happened many times since Patrick was first elected.

Arts and culture are a major driver of local tourism, which annually generates more than a half billion dollars in economic impact in Berkshire County. MCC funding finds its way into every local community through the cultural councils and through various grants to specific organizations, such as Barrington Stage’s Playwright Mentoring Project, which has received national recognition. These funds are critical to a wide range of county institutions and individuals.

Already, 23 senators of both parties have co-sponsored the funding increase, a majority of the 39 senators currently serving.

One would think that having bi-partisan majority support in a legislative body would be a pretty good guarantee a popular measure will eventually pass, but it’s never quite as simple as that. The Senate leadership usually calls the shots when it comes to budget matters and it supports a lower amount.

But a large lobbying effort by cultural groups across the state made a difference in the House and can also succeed in the Senate.

Arts community targets leadership

The arts community is targeting all the state senators, especially Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer. If he can find the additional money and Senate President Therese Murray agrees, increased arts funding is a done deal in both branches of the Legislature.

Patrick can then either cut the funding and face the wrath of the arts community and an override of his veto or just take the easy way out and approve the amount passed by the Legislature.

The governor, who owns a vacation home in Richmond and is a patron of the arts, would do well to change his mind and support the higher funding.

Posted by Bruce Garlow on May 23, 2013. Filed under Berkshire Beacon Hill Spotlight,Columns,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry