Arts Action Toolkit - Budget Process 2011
What can YOU do to speak up to keep the Wisconsin Arts Board
strong and for the arts as part of the solution for Wisconsin?
Go
to Arts Wisconsin's latest Arts Action Alert for information
and actions.
Budget details as confirmed by Joint
Finance Committee 5-6-2011
Original proposed budget cuts and changes
- the details
Talking points and information
Ideas for action and templates
Connecting with your legislators and the legislative
process
General advocacy information and inspiration
Stay connected to Wisconsin politics
Current research about the arts
Resources
Press about the arts and the budget
Budget details as confirmed by Joint Finance Committee 5-6-2011
- Letter to Gov. Scott Walker from Wisconsin Arts Board Chair Barbara Lawton
- Details of Wisconsin Arts Board 2011-2013 budget
Budget details as proposed by Gov. Walker 3-1-2011
- State funds available to support arts engagement, arts education and
creative economy development falls from $2,963,300 to $804,000 annually
– a reduction of $2,159,300 per year and a 73% cut. This is a
far greater percentage cut than almost any other state agency is receiving.
- The current Arts Board budget is .013% of the overall state budget.
If these cuts go through, the Arts Board budget will be .0005% of the
total state budget.
- Specifics re per capita ranking:
o Wisconsin's FY11 Per Capita Ranking (Legislative Appropriation including line items):
Rank = 38; Amount = 43 cents.
If all other states' arts funding remains the same in FY12 (which it won't, because most state arts agencies are facing budget cuts right now), our rank will fall:
Rank = 47; Amount = 14 cents
Again, based on the amounts staying the same, this would put Wisconsin in this bottom tier: Michigan: Rank = 47; Amount = 14 cents;
Wisconsin: Rank = 47; Amount = 14 cents;
California: Rank = 48; Amount = 12 cents;
Arizona: Rank = 49; Amount = 10 cents;
Georgia: Rank = 50; Amount = 8 cents
As a reminder, in FY 11, Minnesota's rank is #1, with per capita funding of $5.69. This is due to the Legacy Amendment that was passed in 2008 providing a percentage of the sales tax to support conservation, clean water and the arts throughout Minnesota.
- In FY12, the National Endowment for the Arts will provide $759,100
as its annual appropriation to match the state’s portion. If the
NEA’s amount changes, the question remains whether the state’s
portion will change as well.
- Elimination of the Arts Board as an independent development agency,
and as a program of the Dept. of Tourism.
- Elimination of the Percent for Art program, provides funding to include public art works in the construction of state facilities. This cut will affect small creative business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the state.
Talking points and information
- FY11 Wisconsin Arts Board grantees
- Talking points: the arts in Wisconsin: part of the solution!
- Talking points: the Wisconsin Arts Board is critically important to Wisconsin’s future
- The Top Ten Reasons to Support the Arts (Randy Cohen, Americans for the Arts)
- Why should government support the arts ? (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies)
Ideas for action and template letters, resolutions, etc.
- Sign up for Arts Wisconsin’s Legislative Action Center to keep informed about civic engagement, public policy, and advocacy for the arts in Wisconsin
- Top 16 actions you can take NOW (from Wisconsin Arts Board)
- Template: Letter to your State Senator
and State Representative - to be customized with personal stories
and examples of the impact of the arts and Arts Board funding, can be
used by individuals and organization/business representatives
Examples of letters from around the state:- Examples of letters sent by Wisconsin residents (from Wisconsin Arts Board)
- Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestras' letter to Joint Finance Committee
- UW-Madison Art Department faculty letter to Joint Finance Committee
- Racine Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors letter to Joint Finance Committee
- TAPIT/new works (Madison) letter to Joint Finance Committee
- Three Lakes Center for the Arts letter to Rep. Dan Meyer
- Monroe Arts Center letter to Joint Finance Committee
- Template: Legislative Body (City
or Town Council/County Board) resolution
Examples of resolutions from around the state:- Milwaukee Common Council resolution expressing opposition to Gov. Walker's proposed cuts and changes to the Wisconsin Arts Board
- Madison Common Council resolution "in support of State investment in the arts, art education and creative economy through the Wisconsin Arts Board as an essential State agency"
- Bayfield City Council resoluton in support of the state's investment in the arts, arts education and creative economy
- Performance program insert - .pdf version, to be printed double-sided two to a page and cut in two, copied in color or black/white
- Factivist action ads for programs, magazines, newspapers, websites
- Write an op-ed column for your local newspaper
Connecting with your legislators and the legislative process
- State Legislature 2011 ( Don't know your legislators? Check " Who are my legislators ?")
- Joint Finance Committee 2011
- Learn more about “How a Bill Becomes Law.”
General advocacy information and inspiration
- Six reasons why YOU must be an advocate for the arts, arts education and creative economy
- Advocacy Basics
- Some Dos and Don'ts of advocacy
- Political Dos and Don'ts for Non-Profit Organizations
Stay connected to Wisconsin politics
- WisPolitics.com
- WisOpinion.com
- The Wheeler Report - daily news about politics in Wisconsin
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - state politics blog
Current research about the arts
- Arts & Economic Prosperity III: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit
Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences
- Wisconsin data from the Wisconsin Arts Board
- National data from Americans for the Arts and Wisconsin Arts Board
- Wisconsin’s Creative Industries 2011 [just released!]
Resources
- Wisconsin Arts Board
- National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) FY11 per-capita appropriations data
- Americans for the Arts (AFTA) state arts agency legislative appropriations tracker
Press about the arts and the budget
- Why
we need funding for the arts - Art City
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5-6-2011 - Wisconsin
Arts Board to be cut 66%
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5-5-2011 - Impact of budget
cuts on the arts
Here and Now, Wisconsin Public Television, 4-22-2011 - Proposed
state budget cuts Arts Board funding
Stevens Point Journal, 4-10-2011 - State
budget cuts loom for arts organizations
Wausau Daily Herald, 4-10-2011 - Editor's
Note: ArtFUND's future up in the air
Door County Advocate, 4-5-2011 - A
Conversation with former Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton
Expose Kenosha, 4-5-2011 - Arts
Beat: Wisconsin poet laureateship will endure despite governor's cuts
Isthmus, Madison, 3-31-2011 - A
letter to local supporters of the arts
Volume One, Eau Claire, 3-29-2011 - Cuts
to Arts Board funding
WEAU, Eau Claire, 3-29-2011 - If passed,
budget could mean big cuts to the arts
WAOW, Wausau, 3-28-2011 - Walker's
attack on the arts could stunt economic growth
Third Coast Digest, Milwaukee, 3-25-2011 - Arts
Minded: Walker proposes cuts in arts’ state funding
River Falls Journal, 3-24-2011 - Walker would
gut state arts funding
Milwaukee News Buzz, 3-23-2011 - State
arts board prepares to fold into Dept. of Tourism
Badger Herald, 3-23-2011 - Wisconsin
Arts Board votes to contest Walker's budget proposal
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, 3-22-2011 - Budget's
impact on arts funding - interview with Anne Katz
Lake Effect, WUWM, 3-11-2011 - Budget
cuts to arts adds new urgency to annual 'Arts Day' lobbying event
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, 3-4-2011
updated 4-25-2011 - check back for updates