state arts action network

State Legislation

State Legislative Overview
September, 2005

As fall approaches, and the majority of the state legislatures have adjourned for the rest of the year, I thought I would provide you this update on how the arts fared this year.

As this is the first year that Americans for the Arts has tracked state legislation, we do not have data to compare this year’s successes to. But, going forward, we will be keeping legislative files to which SAAN members may refer. 

As of August 22, 2005, 42 of the 50 states have adjourned their regular legislative sessions. Eight states have a full-time legislature that meet all year: Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 

To date, there have been 153,103 pieces of legislation introduced in the 50 states, DC, and the U.S. Congress. Of this number, 33,210 have been passed into law or adopted as a resolution. (Keep in mind that many of the 33,210 bills are resolutions that commemorate or designate something.)

Of the 153,103 total pieces of legislation, Americans for the Arts has identified 1,402 arts-related bills. Of these, there have been 492 bills across the nation that have been either passed into law or enacted.

Of these bills that are now law or have been enacted, 189 provide appropriations or bond authority that affects the arts. While I won’t go into detail on all 189 appropriations bills in this report, I will note a few of the ones that are more earmarks than general appropriations. I will be putting together a list of state Arts Council Appropriations comparing them to previous years and issuing a separate report.

In addition to profiling appropriations bills, states passed a variety of other legislation that effect the arts, including arts education, charitable tax deductions, motion picture credits, hotel tax legislation, and a variety of proclamations and designations.

A following is a list of arts related legislation that was passed into law this year.  If you have questions, additions, or wish to provide additional information,  please contact Jay Dick, director of state arts policy.

Arts Education Legislation
Probably the biggest overall art legislative victory this year, excluding appropriations, was in Arkansas, were the Visual Art or Music in the Classroom, H 1034 was passed into law. This bill mandates that art and music is taught by an accredited arts/music instructor and that students grades one through six receive at least 40 minutes of visual art or music instruction per week. Americans for the Arts was proud to work with Governor Huckabee and other associations to see this bill passed into law. Americans for the Arts will be placing the actual legislation on the SAAN members only section of our website.

Other arts education legislation includes:

• NV ACR 19—Recognizes value of and need for study of the arts in public education.
• SC S 362—Relates to the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities; provides standards the faculty of the school must meet to teach at the school; provides for the composition of the board of directors of the school; provides that out-of-state or international exchange students shall pay tuition as determined by the school, provides for policies.
• ME H 1167—Exempts theater teachers from additional requirements imposed by rules adopted by the State Board of Education on April 14, 2004.
• TX H 1111—Relates to admission to open-enrollment charter schools that specialize in performing arts that requires a student to demonstrate artistic ability.

Charitable Deduction Tax Credits
Another very major victory was in Nebraska, where the arts community partnered with a wide ranging coalition including the environmental trust and many foundations to pass into law LB 28. This legislation, modeled after legislation from Montana, provides an income tax credit for a wide range of charitable contributions. It is important to notice that this is a tax credit, and not a tax deduction, that already exists in most states and on the federal level. Tax credits reduce taxes payable to the same extent for all taxpayers, regardless of their income level and marginal tax rate. Deductions from taxable income, however, are more valuable as your income and tax rate increases. Thus, this legislation will allow lower to moderate income families and families to receive tax breaks for donating to a charity.

Hotel Taxes

• GA H 374—Hotel Motel and Trade Show Tax to fund the construction and expansion of bicycle or pedestrian greenways, trails, and walkways connecting a downtown historic or business district to surrounding areas.

Motion Picture Tax Credits

• AZ S 1347—Establishes Motion Picture Production Tax Incentives.
• LA H 731—Provides for a motion picture tax credit.
• MD H 253—Establishes a program to provide grants to rebate 50 percent of specified wages paid in the state by employers engaged in specified film production activity.
• MT H 584—Creates the Big Sky on the Big Screen Act that promotes the motion picture and television industries in the state by providing tax incentives for filming and for developing magazine advertising in the state.
• OK S 877—Provides a tax credit for film and music facilities.
• RI S 932—Establishes a motion picture investment tax credit and a film and television tax credit.

Other Tax Legislation

• AR S 511—Exempts the nonprofit Symphony Orchestra Society, Inc. from sales and use taxes. 
• WI S 3—Relates to creating a property tax exemption for arts and arts education centers.
• AR H 2480—Provides for a sales and use tax exemption for qualified museums; related to nonprofits.
• MS H 1770—Authorizes the City of Meridian food and beverage tax; authorizes bonds and construction of the Arts and Entertainment Center.

General Appropriations

• AR H 1412—$10,000 to four different museums.
• AR H 1463—$20,000 to Old Independence County Regional Museum.
• AR H 1633—$50,000 to Grant County Museum.
• AR H 1647—$20,000 for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Heritage Center.
• AR H 1729—$40,000 for the H.C. Younger High School Museum.
• AR H 1744—$15,000 each for the Guachoya Cultural Center and the J. Austin White Cultural Center.
• AR H 1779—$5,000 to the Henry Yerger Museum.
• AR H 1788—$6,000 to the Arts Center of the Grand Prairie.
• AR H 1843—$4,000 to the Arts Cooperative Team of Hot Springs for equipment associated with developing their website and community calendar.
• AR H 1904—$5,000 to the Sevier County Museum.
• AR H 1947—$10,000 to the Crittenden County Museum.
• AR H 1951—$2,000 Henry Clay Yerger High School Museum.
• AR H 1974—$10,000 to the Jacksonville Museum of Military History.
• AR H 1939—$25,000 to the Clark County Musuem for general improvements.
• AR H 2011—$2,000 to the Henry Yerger High Museum for general improvements.
• AR H 2028—$10,000 to the Drew County Historical Museum for general improvement.
• AR H 2228—$15,000 to the museum in Dumas for construction of a glass enclosure to house exhibits.
• AR H 2246—$75,000 to the Lake City Museum in Craighead County. 
• AR H 2262—$10,000 to the Crittenden County Arts Council for general improvements.
• AR H 2263—$5,000 to the Old Independence Regional Museum and $20,000 to the Walnut Ridge Army Flying School Museum.
• AR H 2280—$200,000 to the East Arkansas Community College to build/equip an arts classroom.
• AR H 2329—$10,000 to the Southeast Arkansas Concert Association (SEARK) for general improvements.
• AR H 2331—$10,000 to the Arkansas Forestry Museum in Drew County.
• AR H 2347—$15,000 to the Faulkner County Museum.
• AR S 348—$200,000 to the Friends of Mid-America Museum.
• AR S 568—$25,000 to the H.W. Jones Wildlife Museum.
• AR S 596—$10,000 to the Carroll County Historical Society.
• AR S 597—$10,000 to the Newton County Historical Society.
• AR S 675—$200,000 to the East Arkansas Community College to be used for the fine arts building general improvement.
• AR S 701—$15,000, $10,000, $10,000 and $10,000 to four museums.
• AR S 734—$20,000 for a memorial, $15,000 for park improvements, and $20,000 for another memorial.
• AR S 741—$200,000 to the Mosaic Templars Historic Museum.
• AR S 756—$20,000 to the Martin Luther King Heritage and Enrichment Center.
• AR S 761—$250,000 to the Mosaic Templars Historic Museum.
• AR S 839—$100,000 to the City of Prescott for streetscaping and museum activities.
• AR S 888—$25,000 for the Walnut Ridge Flying Museum.
• AR S 894—$100,000 for the community theater of Pine Bluff.
• HI S 1699—Increased the Hawaii state foundation on culture and the arts’ general fund appropriations to demonstrate strong legislative support for the importance of culture and the arts in Hawaii.
• IA H 862—Makes appropriations from the Healthy Iowans Tobacco Trust and the Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund to fund $50,000 for various musical activities.
• ND S 2228—Provides an appropriation to assist with the construction cost of the International Arts Center at the International Music Camp.
• NJ 3588—Appropriates $18 million to provide grants for certain historic preservation projects, approves almost $5 million for certain historic preservation projects in the northern portion of the state.
• OK H 1001—Makes appropriations for the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
• WA H 2188—Funds the conservation of the state art collection.

Arts and Cultural Districts/ Entertainment Districts

• LA H 379—Creates the St. Bernard Parish Arts, Culture, and Entertainment District.
• MD S 794—Alters the definition of qualifying resident artist for the purpose of tax benefits available in arts and entertainment districts;  expands the types of buildings in arts and entertainment districts for which a property tax credit maybe granted.
• RI  S 1225—Became law without governor's signature; expands the composition of the current Providence arts and entertainment district in the city of Providence and would grant artists, composers, and writers the same tax exemptions afforded artists, composers, and writers in the other arts districts throughout the state.
• TX H 2208—Relates to the creation of a cultural and fine arts district program by the Commission on the Arts.
• VA S 777—Adds the city of Winchester to the list of localities that may establish an arts and cultural district for the purposes of increasing awareness and support for the arts and culture in the city.
• MD S 141—Repeals the requirement that a nonprofit arts center in the Highlandtown arts and entertainment district in Baltimore City must meet a deadline regarding an application to convert a Class C into a Class B beer, wine, and liquor license.

Museums

• NM H 148—Creates the Museum Collections Fund.
• LA S 232—Provides for a “museum” alcohol beverage permit that authorizes the sale of certain commemorative bottles and the service of limited product samples in a historic museum facility operated in a historic preservation district.
• MD S 328—Amends the Montgomery County National Capital Trolley Museum Loan of 2001 to allow the proceeds of the loan to be used for construction of a building at the site of the National Capital Trolley Museum.
• MT H 564—Provides for the sale of Montana Agriculture Center and Museum of Northern Plains to a qualified local governmental entity.
• NM S 905—Creates a state museum exhibit fund for supporting facilities and exhibits.
• OR S 67—Changes the annual matching fund grant program for museums to biennial competitive grant programs.
• VA H 2079—Creates the Historic Preservation and Museum Assistance Grant Program and Fund.

Public Art

• MD H 749—Provides funds for specified activities of the Public Art Initiative Program.

Proclamations and Designations

• CA ACR 12—Proclaimed May 2005 as California Museum Month.
• CA SCR 2—Proclaims March 2005 to be Arts Education Month.
• MT S 69—Designates the Poet Laureate of Montana.
• PA HR 250—Designates May 4, 2005, as “Arts in Education Day” in Pennsylvania.
• TX SCR 25—Recognizes April 5, 2005, as Texas Medal of Arts Awards Day.
• AL HR 535—Recognizes jazz appreciation month during April 2005.
• AL HR 693—Honors the recipient of the Alabama State Council on the Arts Governor’s Art Award.
• CA SCR 22—Proclaims September 15–October 15, 2005, as California Hispanic Heritage Month.
• FL H 9149—Designates November 13–19 as Florida Storytelling Week.
• GA HR 809—Comments the Savannah College of Art and Design for 25 years of service.
• GA SR 130—Commends and congratulates the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
• IL HR 53—Congratulates Pat Indovina on her receipt of the 2004 Elementary Art Educator of the Year award from the Art Education Association.
• IN HR 45—Recognizes the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
• IN S433—Establishes a process for selecting a State Poet Laureate, specifies the duties and compensation of the Poet Laureate.
• KY S148—Designates the official theatre pipe organ of Kentucky.
• KY SR 188—Congratulates Dr. Sena Jeter Naslund on the occasion of her appointment and acceptance of the position of Kentucky Poet Laureate.
• MI HR78—Recognizes May 25, 2005, as Very Special Arts Day 2005 in Michigan.
• MS SCR 534 and HCR 65—Commends B.B. King for his accomplishments and contributions and proclaims February 15, 2005, as B.B. King Day.
• NC S 884—Recognizes the Seagrove area as the birthplace of North Carolina traditional pottery.
• NM HJM 95 and SJM 90—Relates to “Native American New Deal Art Day.”
• OK HR 1026—Designates the week of April 25 as Oklahoma Theatre Appreciation Week.
• OK HR 1047—Honors the 2005 inductees into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.
• OK SCR 9—Designates Teresa Farrington as the State Okie Caricature artist.
• PA HR 244—Recognizes the week of May 1–8, 2005, as “National Music Week.”
• RI H 6627—Honors the Rhode Island Arts Learning Network.
• SC H 3123—Acknowledges the importance of beach music to the citizens and the fun and entertainment it provides; proclaims April 13, 2005, as Beach Music Day.
• SC H 3442—Recognizes the students of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities for striving to reach the full measure of their talents and abilities, for receiving the Palmetto Gold Award and for participating in the award wining Connecting Arts Through Service Program.
• SC S816—Honors Deborah Smith Hoffman on the occasion of her recognition by the South Carolina Arts Commission.
• SC  S887—Declares June 1–4, 2005, as Sweetgrass Basket Days in South Carolina.
• SC HCR 1021—A resolution in support of the construction of an outdoor facility for Native American performing arts and competitive events.
• TN SJR 184—Recognizes the achievement of Judy Woodruff as the recipient of the Governor’s Awards in the Arts.
• TX HCR 24—Designates Navasota as the Blues Capital of Texas.
• TX HCR 214—Recognizes the 2005 and 2006 appointments of State Poet Laureate, State Musician and State Visual Artists.
• TX HR 158—Commemorates the opening of the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Austin, TX.
• TX HR 660—Honors the Chinese National Treasures limited work tour art exhibition.
• TX HR 1193—Honors the Texas Music Museum for its contributions to the cultural fabric of the state.
• TX HR 1251—Recognizes the Uncompromising Courage art exhibition held at the State Capital on April 7–11, 2005.
• TX HR 1801—Congratulates the Visual Arts Guild of Frisco on the grand opening of its new headquarters.
• TX HR 2078—Recognizes the creation of the Houston Fire Museum Education Center.
• TX SR 1089—Recognizes the Encore Theatre.
• VA HJR 964—Commends the Arlington Arts Center.
• VA SJR 499—Commends Arts Enter.
• VT HJR 49—Relates to designating Vermont Cultural Heritage Month.
• WA HR 4619—Acknowledging Museum Day.
• WV SR 36—Congratulates Travel Berkeley Springs on receiving the Governor’s Arts Award for Creative Community Spirit and Pam Parziale on receiving the Governor’s Distinguished Arts Award.

Miscellaneous Legislations

• LA S 297  OPPOSED—Authorized the governing authority of Orleans Parish to levy fees for services provided to nonprofit organizations.
• MS H 438—Building fund for the arts; extends the repealer on provision allowing arts commission to use bond proceeds for certain project costs.
• NV A 351—Encourages the adoption of regulations to facilitate the display and sale of artistic expressions protected by the First Amendment in state, county, and municipal parks, as well as recreational and cultural facilities.
• NV A 456—Transfers responsibility for the operation of performing arts centers in certain larger counties.
• TN HR 52—Lotteries. In part, authorizes multiple arts groups to hold lotteries or raffles, etc.
• WY S 144—Relates to the state library; abolishes the state library board.