Act Now: Pennsylvania State Budget 2012-13
It's time to protect arts funding in the Pennsylvania state budget. Your mission (and we hope you'll choose to except it), is to do two things...
Step 1: Schedule a visit to your Pennsylvania legislators
We’re making a big ask of you this year. We’re asking you to schedule an in-person meeting with your Pennsylvania legislators to voice your arts support. You can meet with them in Harrisburg or schedule a meeting with the legislative staff at their local office in your area. Below are all the talking points you need…don’t be nervous about telling your legislators what’s important to you—they want to know!
On April 30, our CEO Mitch Swain went to Harrisburg with the same message, so if you have questions about the talking points or how best to approach legislators, don’t hesitate to contact him. If you get an appointment scheduled, please let us know via our Appointment Form.
If you cannot make an in-person legislative visit, please consider calling or drafting a letter with the following requests. However, we’re strongly encouraging you to step out and schedule a visit!
Step 2: Ask your legislators to do the following…
ASK #1 – Pass a state budget that includes $8.179 million for grants to the arts and $866,000 for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. We believe this funding is valuable because…
- Arts and culture provides Pennsylvania with a great return on investment. The Commonwealth spends 71 cents per person on the arts and, in return: Supports 62,000 full-time equivalent jobs all over Pennsylvania, Pumps $2 billion dollars in spending into Pennsylvania’s economy, and Generates $283 million in local and state tax revenues
- 90 cents of every dollar allocated to the PCA goes towards community programs and services
- Funding for the arts has already been trimmed to the bone. The PCA budget has been reduced by nearly half over the past three budget cycles.
- The PCA funds programs and organizations in all 67 counties. These programs provide educational opportunities for young and old and also make arts and culture more accessible to all Pennsylvanians.
ASK #2 – Pass Senate Resolution 268, which directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of museums and evaluate how funding and resources are allocated.
ASK #3 – Help form/join an Arts & Culture Caucus in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
ASK #4 – Restore funding for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s museum assistance grants, the zoos, and tourism in the State Budget for FY12 -13.
ASK #5 – Give thoughtful consideration to the 40 recommendations in the the Education Policy and Leadership Center’s recent report, Creating Pennsylvania’s Future through the Arts and Education.
ASK #6 – Protect arts and culture funding as part of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), and increase funding to the program to $100 million.
ASK #7 – Keep funding for arts and culture organizations in the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) for “shovel ready” projects.
ASK #8 – Keep instruction in the arts and the humanities as part of the core curriculum in Pennsylvania schools, and ensure that students are taught by teachers who are certified in the arts and the humanities.
(updated 4/20/12)
