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Advocacy
2003 Legislative Agenda
presented by Arts Action Wisconsin
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Advocacy News
2003 Legislative Session and 2003-2005 State
Budget
2003 Arts Legislative Agenda
Action Steps for the Legislative Agenda
Talking
Points about the arts in Wisconsin
Talking Points
about the economic impact of the arts
2003 Legislative
Session and 2003-2005 State Budget
The 2003 Legislature began its work in January, and Gov. Doyle released
the 2003-2005 state budget, for the biennium that begins July 1,
2003, on February 18. The proposed budget is the beginning of the
budget process in which the state of the state will be debated and
decided when the budget is signed into law by July 1, 2003.
- Click
here for the 2003-2004 session calendar, and daily and weekly
legislative calendar information
- Click
here for information about the 2003-2005 state budget
- Click here
for more information about the budget process
2003 Legislative
Agenda
- KEEP A STRONG AND EFFECTIVE WISCONSIN ARTS BOARD
Gov. Doyle's 2003-2005 budget proposes:
1. No cuts to Arts Board grant programs, including the Arts
Challenge Initiative, State Aids for the Arts (which funds part
or all of Artistic Program Support 1, Artistic Program Support
2, Community Development Project Grants, Individual Artist Fellowships,
and the Performing Arts Network-Wisconsin grant programs) and
the Wisconsin Regranting Program.
2. The Arts Board's State Operations Budget was cut $66,000
or 20%: this already lean portion of the Arts Board's budget
will get leaner. The State Operations Budget currently pays
for ½ of Arts Board staff, as well as a portion of the
agency's computer service and a portion of the rent in the DOA
building.
3. One full-time equivalent staff position is to be eliminated.
Governor Doyle has chosen to continue the state's investment
in the work of our state's artists and arts organizations. The
same cannot be said for Governors in other states facing deficits,
which have moved to completely eliminate funding for state arts
agencies in New Jersey, Missouri, and Arizona. Given that several
state agencies are to be eliminated.
Within the total budget picture, the Wisconsin Arts Board's
current budget is less than ¼ of 1/10th of 1% of the
state's general fund budget. It is a small, but very effective
investment that generates important economic and human resource
returns. This funding leverages millions of dollars in other
public and private support, bringing the arts, education, business,
and neighborhoods together in creative partnerships that increase
quality of life, build healthier communities and strengthen
economies.
While other state agencies grew over the past decade, the Arts
Board was already doing its part in cutting expenditures as
its state funding declined by more than 23 percent. Wisconsin
currently stands at 47th out of 50 states in per-capita legislative
funding of the arts, surpassed by states such as Minnesota,
North Dakota, Louisiana and Mississippi.
For arts organizations in the state's rural counties, the Arts
Board is often the only source of public funding they can turn
to, and in many places the only source of support for arts in
the schools. Further cuts to the Arts Board's budget would eliminate
key arts programs, for negligible savings.
- SUPPORT A VIABLE LOCAL ARTS ENDOWMENT
The state's Local Arts Endowment, established in August 2001,
should be supported as a strong mechanism for statewide community
and economic development.
- Urge Governor Doyle to appoint qualified and knowledgeable
members to the Endowment's Foundation board of directors
so that the Endowment may begin to do its work.
- Raise the tax credit funding mechanism for the Local
Arts Endowment to 25%.
In order to create a viable funding source for the Endowment,
the tax credit funding mechanism, which currently stands
at 5%, should be increased to reach at least 25%.
- ELIMINATE THE 5% SALES TAX ON TICKETS SOLD BY ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
Support elimination of the 5% sales tax on tickets sold by
non-profit, university, college, municipal, and county arts
organizations.
Wisconsin is the only state in the Upper Midwest region,
and one of only six states in the country, requiring its arts
organizations to pay sales tax. This tax burden has a ceiling
effect on the amount that can be charged for a ticket and the
dollars available for reinvestment in the organization's charitable
mission, as well as the burden to track and report this information.
Read these pieces from Madison's Capital Times about this issue:
Saturday, March 3, 2002: Sales
tax on arts groups under attack
Tuesday, March 5, 2002: Editorial:
Eliminate arts sales tax
Three Easy Action Steps for
Arts Advocates
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