Your legislators need to know that their constituents support the arts. In the 2017 legislative session, legislators supported level arts funding. Please take five minutes to thank them for supporting the arts.
In the 2017 Session bills have been introduced to get rid of the Perpich Center for Arts Education. The Center is a resource for arts education throughout the State of Minnesota, serving all Minnesota schools, K-12 teachers and teaching artists, students, and all arts areas - as the only support by the state for arts education.
Recently, there was a not flattering audit done by the state's Legislative Auditor. However, new board and leadership have just been appointed by the Governor and the Perpich Center is in the midst of a lively and dedicated rebirth with a highly qualified board-over half recently appointed and already demonstrating a solid commitment to correcting all issues brought to light in the recent Legislative Auditor's reports. A significant number of these issues have already been addressed.
As a result, the Legislature continued funding for the Perpich Center. Please thank your legislators for saving this statewide arts education asset.
In July, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that calls for the NEA to be funded at $145 million in FY 2018 - a $5 million cut from the current funding level.
Although we are disappointed by this proposed cut, we are encouraged that it is not the termination proposal sought by the Administration since March. This House committee proposal falls short of the funding requested by a record bipartisan group of 154 members of Congress of $155 million. Similar to the request made by members in the House, 40 Senators requested NEA funding of at least $150 million for FY 2018. The House committee action is the start of legislative negotiations on these funding priorities. Still to come is a proposal from the U.S. Senate.
Now more than ever is the time to tell our story and make our case again and again at the federal, state and local level that the arts matter. This process is likely to extend all the way through late Fall of 2017 before anything is finalized.
Designated by Congress in 2010, House Resolution 275 names the week beginning with the second Sunday in September as National Arts in Education Week. During this week, the field of arts education and its supporters join together in communities across the country to tell the story of the transformative power of the arts in education.
In 2017, it is a particularly important time to celebrate arts education, as we usher in a new chapter of American educational policy with the new Every Student Succeeds Act and its many arts-friendly provisions. In the new law, the arts remain a "well-rounded" subject and are empowered to be central to a child's education in our public schools.
After sending in your letter, there are a number of others ways you can participate through social media. Contribute to the visibility campaign during the week of September 11-17, 2016 by using the hashtag, #BecauseOfArtsEd. People from all walks of life can share their story of the transformative power of the arts in their own education and the impact the arts have had on their work and life.
- Post on Facebook. Tell the world your #BecauseOfArtsEd story on Facebook. Describe what you are doing now in work and life and how arts education has a positive impact with a photo! Be sure to use #ArtsEdWeek, too.
- Send a tweet. Share your quick #BecauseOfArtsEd story on Twitter. Be sure to include an image or video along with #ArtsEdWeek.
- Share a photo. Post your favorite arts education photo on Instagram along with your #BecauseOfArtsEd story about the impact of arts education on your life. Be sure to use #ArtsEdWeek.
On Arts Advocacy Day, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) announced new legislation to strengthen the creative economy to a crowd of over 500 arts advocates.
Entitled Comprehensive Resources for Entrepreneurs in the Arts to Transform the Economy (CREATE) Act (S.2648), the comprehensive bill aims to better support our nation's creative economy and builds off of research of numerous economic studies, including Arts and Economic Prosperity findings.
Through minor adjustments to existing federal programs in agencies like the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Treasury, the legislation takes steps to better invest in our country's workforce and creative economy, while recognizing artists as contributors to the small business community. It does this through three titles: 1) Support for artists and entrepreneurs; 2) Support for the creative economy, and 3) Creative community development.
Provisions include direction that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) works with micro-lenders, traditional lenders, and regulators to ensure that artists and entrepreneurs have access to micro-loans and that loan program criteria are not discriminatory toward arts-related businesses. There is also a requirement that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and Rural Development Administration ensure that traditional economic development tools, such as incubators and grant programs, support the arts industry. The legislation also includes a demonstration project to promote the creative arts in local economic planning and support to artists trying to get back on their feet after a disaster.
Read more about the bill in this op-ed in The Hill authored by Sen. Udall and Robert L. Lynch, president & CEO of Americans for the Arts. Linked here is the Senator's press release, and here is a one-pager from the Senator.
On Arts Advocacy Day, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) announced new legislation to strengthen the creative economy to a crowd of over 500 arts advocates.
Entitled Comprehensive Resources for Entrepreneurs in the Arts to Transform the Economy (CREATE) Act (S.2648), the comprehensive bill aims to better support our nation's creative economy and builds off of research of numerous economic studies, including Arts and Economic Prosperity findings.
Through minor adjustments to existing federal programs in agencies like the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Treasury, the legislation takes steps to better invest in our country's workforce and creative economy, while recognizing artists as contributors to the small business community. It does this through three titles: 1) Support for artists and entrepreneurs; 2) Support for the creative economy, and 3) Creative community development.
Provisions include direction that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) works with micro-lenders, traditional lenders, and regulators to ensure that artists and entrepreneurs have access to micro-loans and that loan program criteria are not discriminatory toward arts-related businesses. There is also a requirement that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and Rural Development Administration ensure that traditional economic development tools, such as incubators and grant programs, support the arts industry. The legislation also includes a demonstration project to promote the creative arts in local economic planning and support to artists trying to get back on their feet after a disaster.
Read more about the bill in this op-ed in The Hill authored by Sen. Udall and Robert L. Lynch, president & CEO of Americans for the Arts. Linked here is the Senator's press release, and here is a one-pager from the Senator.
Through minor adjustments to existing federal programs in agencies like the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Treasury, the legislation takes steps to better invest in our country's workforce and creative economy, while recognizing artists as contributors to the small business community. The Senate bill is S.661 and the House companion bill is H.R. 1649.
Provisions include:
- Access to small business micro-loans and ensuring that loan program criteria are not discriminatory toward arts-related businesses;
- Economic development tools, such as incubators and technical assistance, to support the creative economy;
- Promotion and grant programs to support the creative arts in local economic development planning;
- Assistance to artists trying to get back on their feet after a disaster;
- Creation of an Artist Corps within the Corporation for National and Community Service to help expand access to arts and arts education in communities.
Importantly, the announcement today from President Trump includes specific support for the charitable tax deduction and protecting it in tax reform. It is short on further details, but this is promising news, especially since earlier Trump Administration proposals included recommendations for caps on charitable tax deductions.
Take two minutes now to contact your member of Congress to let them know that you support charitable giving. Call on them to preserve incentives for charitable giving by protecting the full scope and value of the tax deduction for all forms of charitable gifts, and ensure that changes made under tax reform will encourage more giving by more Americans.
To get the latest on other tax proposals and their impact -- including the impact of proposals to double the standard deduction for individual taxpayers -- as well as Americans for the Arts "Statement on Tax Reform and the Charitable Contribution Deduction," please visit the Arts Mobilization Center.