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A
Rundown of Arts & Culture in Pennsylvania's Initial FY2010
Budget
| Pennsylvania’s
FY2010 budget had some good news and some bad news for
the Commonwealth’s cultural community. |
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| The
Arts Tax |
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A
plan first announced on Friday, September 18, 2009 to
extend the state’s sales tax (7% in Allegheny county,
8% in Philadelphia county, and 6% elsewhere across the
state) to include arts, culture, and entertainment was
met with vigorous opposition by cultural advocates statewide.
This proposal, an effort by lawmakers to generate an additional
$100-120 million in revenue, was defeated with the PA
House’s passage of revenue bill 1531 on Wednesday,
October 7, subsequently passed by the Senate and currently
awaiting the Governor’s final approval. House Bill
1531 does not contain the “arts tax,” a major
victory for the state’s cultural community. |
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| Executive
Offices |
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The
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), will see its
administrative funding fall from $1.3 million to $992,000
(-24%) and its Grants to the Arts funding drop from
$15.2 million to $11 million (-28%). PCA’s Grants
to the Arts appropriation, which reached a height of
$15.4 million in FY2002, will be at its lowest level
in a decade.
A
new line item, “Cultural Preservation Grants,”
appears in the Executive Offices in FY2010. It contains
funding for nine museums previously supported via line
items under the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
(see “Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission”
section below for further explanation). The Cultural
Preservation Grants appropriation of $3.1 million in
FY2010 will support those museums, the Heinz History
Center, and other cultural organizations to be determined.
Support
for Public Television will also drop, from $8 million
to $1 million (-88%). This funding supports a network
of eight public broadcasting companies across Pennsylvania,
including WHYY and MiND Media (WYBE).
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| Department
of Community and Economic Development (DCED) |
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There
are at least six lines in DCED that impact arts and
culture. All have been cut in FY2010. Cultural Expositions
and Exhibitions, Marketing to Attract Film Business,
Film Grant Program, and Cultural Activities have all
been zeroed out. These lines were previously funded
at $6.3 million (FY2009), $576,000 (FY2009), $5 million
(FY2008), and $3.8 million (FY2009), respectively.
Support
for Zoos, through a DCED line entitled “Tourism
– Accredited Zoos,” drops from $2.2 million
to $1.2 million (-45%). Community Revitalization, a
line previously funded at $40.2 million, some of which
supported cultural organizations, has also been zeroed
out in FY2010.
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| Education |
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Professional
Development for the Arts will be maintained at level funding
of $346,000 for FY2010. Public Library Subsidy funding
has dropped from $75.9 million in FY2009 to $60 million
in FY2010 (-21%). Appropriations for the Governor’s
Schools of Excellence, including an arts program, have
been eliminated for FY2010, a loss of $3.2 million. State
support for the University of the Arts will also drop,
from $1.2 million in FY2009 to $271,000 in FY2010 (-77%). |
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| Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) |
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Museum
Assistance Grants, a competitive grant programs for museums
across the state, will see its appropriations drop from
$3.8 million in FY2009 to $1.8 million in FY2010 (-53%).
PHMC’s General Government Operations funding, which
enables it to maintain a network of state-owned museums
and historical sites, will see a reduction in funding
from $25.8 million in FY2009 to $19.5 million in FY2010
(-24%).
Funding for a group of nine individual museums, commonly
known as “nonpreferreds” because of the nature
of their line items’ structure, will be transferred
to the Executive Offices under a new line entitled Cultural
Preservation Assistance. In FY2009, funding for the nonpreferreds
totaled $2.7 million. Cultural Preservation Assistance
will receive an appropriation of $3.1 million in FY2010,
which will support these museums as well as the Heinz
History Center and other cultural organizations to be
determined. How much support for individual museums funded
under this new line will drop in FY2010 is not yet known. |
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| Educational
Improvement Tax Credits (EITC) |
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Cultural
organizations often access EITC funds to support programs
in Pennsylvania schools. In FY2010, the total amount of
funds available via EITC will drop to $60 million (-20%),
and to $50 million in FY2011. In FY2009, approximately
$75 million in funds was available through the EITC program. |
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| Film
Production Tax Credits |
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Instead
of being capped at $75 million (FY2009), the film tax
credit will now be set at $42 million, with the cap to
be increased to $60 million next year(FY2011).
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For more information
about the state budget, or if you or your organization would like
to assist the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council with advocacy on this
or other issues, please contact Ryan
Freytag, Manager of Cultural Policy and Research or call 412.391.2060
x232.
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