I received the following from Arts North Carolina today:
what happened… We had an amazing Arts Day. On the same day, the House General Government Chair proposed a budget that cut grants programs of the North Carolina Arts Council by 23%. Arts advocates were outraged and wrote/spoke in record breaking numbers. Representative John Torbett supported partial restoration to arts grants and historic sites. General Government Chair rules his amendment out of order three times, so Torbett brings it to the Full Appropriations Committee who overwhelmingly supported his amendment. Grants cuts were restored to a proportionate 15%. Department of Cultural Resources staged a brilliant coalition of arts, history, and place to pull the amendment through.
who else helped… We think a special shout out should go to those Representatives who raised their hands to speak in favor of Torbett’s amendment in the full House Appropriations meeting: Representatives Ingle (Alamance), Bradley (Franklin, Halifax, Nash), Adams (Guilford), Faircloth (Guilford), Glazier (Cumberland), Hamilton (New Hanover), Fisher (Buncombe, and Wilkins (Durham, Person). Folks in Mecklenburg should reach out to Representative Becky Carney who is our House champion 24/7, and we also think Representative Linda Johnson (Cabarrus) should get a hearty Bravo!
is it over yet… It isn’t over until the lady signs the budget bill…no one knows when that will happen. Next week the full House will vote on the budget, and then the Senate gets their turn. Arts will begin in Senate General Government. Expect your next Call to Action week of May 9.
but what do I do with all my time until then… thank House Appropriations members, in hard copy, by email, by phone.
Go to www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee&sActionDetails=House Standing_6.
where are we on the arts agenda… We will need to push on H758 (Arts Education Commission) to make sure it has time to get to the Senate, and we expect that license plates will be “bundled†and move through sometime after May 12. Now wouldn’t that be nice…an arts license plate. Stay tuned on both.