What Bloomberg's Plans May Mean for the Arts

According to Norma Munn, chairperson of the New York City Arts Coalition, the bad news that Mayor Bloomberg unveiled yesterday vis a vis the city budget will certainly mean some pain for the arts, but perhaps, she says, not as much pain as we might have thought.

As per Norma:

Here is the preliminary budget from the Mayor for the upcoming budget year starting July 1, 2009 for the Department of Cultural Affairs. Please keep in mind that this is stage one; the Council will hold hearings starting in a couple of weeks. After their response, the Mayor will propose the Executive Budget in late April, and another round of hearings will take place, along with ongoing negotiations between the Council and the Mayor before a final budget passed in late June.

EXPENSE BUDGET
FY09: $153,050,000
FY10: $132,453,000 (proposed)

That is a decrease of over $20 million. There are no details provided within these larger numbers as to how this breaks down between CIGs and Program groups.

CAPITAL BUDGET
FY09: $823 million
FY10: $140 million (proposed)

Comparisons of current and proposed on Capital are not a good way to realistically evaluate what the City is doing. More important is a comparison with what is spent versus what is planned. From 2005 through 2008, the actual capital money spent ranged from a low of $102 million to a high of $212 million, so a projection of $140 million, while low, is not as drastic as the above numbers would seem to indicate.

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Will Governor Paterson Decimate NYSCA?

Another major development while I was away was the unveiling of Governor Paterson's budget for (and budget cuts to) the New York State Council on the Arts. Below is an email I received from Norma Munn, chair of the New York City Arts Coalition. I support Norma but I wonder if the current fiscal situation, being so dire, doesn't really call on all of us to sacrifice something, and whether this proposal, in that sense, isn't really rather fair. Comments, anyone? (And apologies, too -- I'm still catching up on emails.)

GOVERNOR PATERSON PROPOSES MAJOR CUTS TO NYSCA

Here is what was recommended in the proposed FY2010 State budget released by Governor Paterson today:

$38.9 million (Local Assistance) = Grant dollars
$5.5 million (Administration)
$44.4 million (Total)

Compared to where we started the current fiscal year, this is a 20% cut in grant dollars for the upcoming budget starting April 1, 2009. It is a 10% cut to administration

ALSO, the Governor plans to reintroduce his proposal to cut $7 million from the current NYSCA budget. This would be on the agenda for the legislature when it reconvenes on January 7, 2009.

ACTION
Task 1 – Prevent the $7 million cut to the current year.

Write to the Chair of the Committee on Tourism, Arts and Sports Development in the Assembly, Steve Englebright, 149 Main Street, East Setauket, NY 11733 - NOW. A mid-year cut would essentially zero most of October and December applicants, which is unfair and horrendous.

Write to Senator Jose Serrano, 157 East 104th Street, Ground Level, New York, NY 10029. He is in line to be Chair of the Senate committee on the arts if the Democrats actually take control of the Senate.

ANALYSIS – next year’s budget.
Three factors have major implications for the proposed budget. The economy, the potential fiscal stimulus plan from President-Elect Obama and its impact on State budgets, and the outcome of the current chaos over control of the NYS Senate.

It is unlikely the economy will improve significantly in the next three to four months. A fiscal stimulus package that directed serious money to the State quickly could help tremendously. As for the State Senate maneuvering among the Democrats, I don’t have a crystal ball and would not even venture a guess. Fortunately for us, both Republicans and Democrats support the arts in the State. However, all this means a lot of uncertainty in terms of planning.

LONGER TERM ACTION FOR FY2010 BUDGET
Prepare brief one to two paragraph explanations of the impact of a 20% cut. Be specific, i.e., layoffs, cuts to programs, etc. (Please email a copy to the New York City Arts Coalition at information@nycityartscoaltion.org).

Set up an appointment in January with your local State Assembly Member and State Senator. If you have colleagues in the district, going together can be helpful, so think of reaching out to others to work together on these appointments. Please don’t worry about going to Albany; seeing elected officials at home is fine. (And a lot less expensive.) We will provide you with some data from our recent survey on jobs, and some historical data on NYSCA funding in early January.

Keep us posted of the responses you get from these appointments.

Finally, these are things you can realistically do that can help. When some of the uncertainty is diminished, additional action can be effectively planned.

Thank you, and when we know anything else, you’ll know.

Norma P. Munn
Chairperson
New York City Arts Coalition
19 West 44th Street, Suite 1108
New York, NY 10036
phone: 212-246-3788
fax: 212-944-1631
npmunn@nycityartscoalition.org

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New York City Arts Coalition Sounds the Alarm on Cuts to NYSCA

Through my colleague Paul Bargetto of East River Commedia, I received this email blast put out today by Norma Munn, chairperson of the New York City Arts Coalition. Bottom line: times are about to get much, much tougher, and Governor Patterson is recommending more cuts to the New York State Council on the Arts. Get involved!

PROPOSED ADDITIONAL CUTS TO STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS

Governor Paterson will include a proposed $7.2 million cut to the State Council on the Arts in the list of possible cuts that he is announcing at his 11:30 press conference.

Governor Paterson is providing the proposed list to the State Legislature as it starts its special session November 18. That special session is to deal with the additional $1.5 billion deficit in the current fiscal year. The 6% cut ($2.6 million) from a few weeks ago was designed to deal with the earlier projected state deficit, which has now grown considerably.

NYSCA had on hand roughly $8 million in uncontracted funds after the 6% cut a few weeks ago. Obviously an additional $7 million cut leaves almost nothing for the applicants who had grants under consideration for the October and December Council meetings. (FYI, October Council meeting was postponed for those who might not be aware of it)

This is a list of possible cuts. The legislature can (1) do nothing and leave the problem to the Governor¹s hands, or (2) change the list by coming up with other cuts and taking some things off the list, or (3) pass the proposed list as presented.

If the legislature does nothing, it is usually within the power of a Governor to simply not spend money and thereby make the cuts happen.

My understanding is that the list from Governor Paterson contains some fairly severe cuts to social service programs, as well as other areas, such as education, that will make it very hard for the arts to make a case that NYSCA should not be cut. Bluntly put, we will not avoid some kind of cut, but this cut would pretty much out NYSCA’s funds, which I am pretty sure is a more severe impact than on other agencies. The two cuts together also equal about 20% of NYSCA¹s entire appropriation for grants.

ACTION TO TAKE:

Everyone should do the following quickly:

(1) Contact the Governor¹s office and object to the size of the proposed cut, and pointing out that it pretty much eliminated the last half of the year¹s funding for applicants at NYSCA, and that NYSCA is now taking a 20% cut. (Faxed letters are best, but email is better than doing nothing. Phone calls are least effective, but if you can organize a lot of them and feel like doing it, go ahead. In short, protest politely, but firmly. (Phone: 518-474-8390; Fax 518-474-1513. No direct email. Go to http://161.11.121.121/govemail where you can sign on to send an email.)

(2) Contact your State Assembly and State Senator and let them know how this impacts on you. Again, you should also point out the size of this potential cut and impact on the agency. Letters are best, but if you know the person or can talk directly to their Chief of Staff or budget person, a phone call is OK. Email is not a good idea. There will not be enough of it in most offices to make an impact. (And get your Board to do something, please.)

Ask the Assembly and Senate members to decrease the proposed cut significantly. Don¹t get dragged into a conversation about how much, if you can avoid it. There is no right number, so trying to come up with one is pointless. You might consider suggesting that waste in government be eliminated before they go after funds for organizations that squeeze every penny.

Lastly, if you got our survey a few days ago and have not filled it out, please fill it out by going to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=z3jKIwuaEGLctwvIleyY8w_3d_3d. I need the information about outside payments and current employment very badly. This situation is just the beginning and we need that information to make a better case for ourselves.

Norma P. Munn
Chairperson
New York City Arts Coalition
19 W. 44 Street, Suite 1108
New York, NY 10036
P: 212-246-3788
F: 212-944-1631
Email: information@nycityartscoalition.org

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