URGENT – VA Set to Eliminate Funding of Commission of the Arts

On February 21, 2010, the Appropriations Committee of Virginia’s House of Delegates voted, 15-7, to cut state funding for the Virginia Commission of the Arts by 50 percent in fiscal year 2011, and to eliminate the agency completely as of July 1, 2011. The Senate Finance Committee has adopted the proposal in the budget submitted [...]

Texas House Bill 2649

Yesterday brought a lot of attention to the Texas House of Representatives and the passing of House Bill 2649.  The long and short of the bill is that is requires any lighting designer that works within the state of Texas to licensed as either an electrician, architect, engineer, landscape architect, or interior designer.
This has the [...]

Education & Labor Committee Hearing Review

Yesterdays we covered the Education and Labor Committee Hearing on “The Economic and Employment Impact of the Arts and Music Industry“. Today we have a recap of what was said at the hearing.
The hearing was held to examine how the economy is affecting jobs in the arts and music industry and the roles these [...]

Stimulus Update: Victory for the Arts in the Economic Recovery Bill

We would like to also thank some key leaders on Capitol Hill who really carried our voices into the conference negotiation room and throughout the halls of Congress: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey (D-WI), House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA), and Congressional Arts Caucus Co-Chair Louise Slaughter (D-NY). … What’s Next As we wrap up our work on the Economic Recovery legislation, we wanted to share with you other upcoming legislative action that we are tracking: Finalization by early March of the FY 2009 appropriations, which has been operating under a continuing resolution for the last five months.

Update: Help the Arts With The Stimilus Bill

We have received more information regarding how to respond to the stimulus bill that can effect the arts. A good friend of iSquint have put together a listing of each of the members of the senate that will overlook the final version of the bill before it goes to President Obama for his signature or [...]

Update: No Funds for the Arts in the Stimulus Bill

We recently received a message for a friend within the industry about the situation that the Arts are in with regards to the Stimulus bill laid out by congress. Please read the entire message and let your voice be heard about how this bill can harm, not help our industry.

On Tuesday [...]

Campaign Defends Funds for Arts in Stimulus Package

This past week we wrote about Sentor Tom Coburn (R-OK) introducing an amendment to the $800+ billion stimulus package before Congress that would deny any “community park, museum, theater” or “arts center” from receiving any money to use for “renovation, remodeling, construction, salaries, furniture” or “rotating pastel lights,” among other items.
The amendment, introduced before [...]

Senate Amendment to Bar Entertainment Industry From Any Economic Recovery Funds

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has introduced an amendment to prohibit any funds in the economic stimulus bill from going to museums, casinos, aquariums, theaters, art centers. As such, it thus would bar from Federal Economic Recovery funding many potential projects that would create jobs for our members, invest in lasting products, and support the cultural [...]