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THE STATE OF STATE SPENDING
Culture cash
BY ADAM REILLY

Massachusetts’s next budget remains a work in progress, and won’t be finalized until the end of June at the earliest. But for now — thanks to increasingly effective lobbying by the arts community and a more-enlightened approach by legislators — it seems that cultural-funding advocates will soon have something to cheer about.

Last week, the Senate voted to increase the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s funding from $7.3 million to $8.3 million during the 2005 fiscal year. By recommending this increase, which would be earmarked for cultural economic development, Senate leaders followed the lead of their House colleagues — who endorsed a similar increase back in April — rather than that of Governor Mitt Romney, who has suggested keeping the MCC’s funding steady.

The $1 million increase would represent a minuscule fragment of the state’s FY ’05 spending, which is expected to reach $24.4 billion. And it would still leave MCC funding far below its pre-2002 level of $19.1 million. Even so, proponents of state support for artistic and cultural programs were quick to hail the Senate’s recommendation as a major victory. "This is an increase during a time when a lot of the assumptions about the FY ’05 budget are based on an anticipated $1.5 billion deficit," says Dan Hunter, executive director of Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities. "So yes, a $1 million increase is significant," MCC executive director Mary Kelley concurred. "It’s very hard to expect more in an economic climate like this. It would have been naive to hope for a great increase in dollars when people are still sustaining cuts. I think this is a terrific move in the right direction."

If the funding boost makes it into the final budget, it would allow the MCC to reinstate its economic-development program, which — until Governor Jane Swift’s 2002 cuts — helped Bay State communities use their cultural assets to create jobs and spur downtown revitalization. The increase would also have symbolic significance. Earlier this month, the Boston Foundation released a hefty report titled Culture Is Our Common Wealth, which promoted the state’s cultural sector as an engine of economic growth (see "Tall Order," This Just In, May 14). As Hunter sees it, the determination to ratchet up MCC funding shows that state lawmakers are getting the message — a view that jibes with the explanation coming out of Beacon Hill.

"There’s an increased recognition that our cultural institutions attract a lot of visitors, and an increased recognition that anything that supports tourism and culture only brings in more tax revenue," one State House insider said after the Senate vote. "We want to help balance the budget, and we’re going to do whatever we can without increasing taxes."

Of course, the MCC’s funding increase is still hypothetical. Even if it survives the legislature’s budgetary conference committee, it could be vetoed by Romney. (Asked if the governor would support the increase, Romney spokesperson Nicole St. Peter said he would defer judgment until receiving the legislature’s final budget proposal. "He’ll consider each item at that time," she noted.) Still, there’s ample reason for optimism. The Senate cited the MCC increase in the executive-summary section of its budget, which suggests that it’s a priority for Senate leadership. And the House actually named the economic-development program that would be created by the increase, dubbing it the John and Abigail Adams Arts Fund. (House Ways and Means chair John Rogers has publicly quoted a letter in which John Adams told Abigail that he studied war and politics so his children could study science and economics, and their children could study the arts.) So if Romney vetoes the increase, there’s a good chance for a legislative override.

Next up: the city of Boston’s FY ’05 budget. Mayor Tom Menino has proposed allocating $1,544,334 for the newly formed Office of Arts and Cultural Development. This would amount to level funding: last year, the Office of Special Events, Tourism, and Film and the Office of Cultural Affairs — which recently merged — jointly received that same amount. But Boston city councilor John Tobin notes that the merger should streamline operations and free up additional funding for arts programs around the city. Menino’s budget won’t be finalized until it receives council approval this summer. But at present, 2005 is shaping up to be a good year for the cultural sector.


Issue Date: May 28 - June 3, 2004
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