Cultural Funding Once Again Zeroed Out!
Jul 21st, 2009 | By Dance Journal Staff | Category: Action & Advocacy
Yesterday, the General Assembly entered its 20th day without a FY09-10 budget, and this time, HB 1416 came up for consideration in the Senate. HB 1416 did include funding for the arts, but Senator Jake Corman (R-34) introduced an amendment to the budget, which once again zeroed out cultural funding and made it look like SB 850 all over again. The amendment passed, 31-19. After some fiery debate on the Senate floor HB 1416, with Corman’s amendment, passed also at 31-19. The budget now moves back to the House.
So what now? One of three possible courses is likely…
1. The House will agree with the changes made by the Senate and send the bill to Governor Rendell for his signature.
2. The House will vote to nonconcur with the changes and send the bill to a conference committee for further debate and compromise.
3. The House takes no action at all.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED ONCE AGAIN
We need to put the pressure back on our state representatives, who will be reviewing their newly Senate-revised budget today. Please call your representatives today and keep the pressure on!
You can use this online tool to find our State representatives…
http://www.philaculture.org/action/legislator
I cannot stress enough how important your voices are in making the case for the arts. We are down to the wire here, and the more we fight, the harder it will be for the General Assembly to ignore us. Times are tough, yes – but times will only get tougher if funding for programs that directly benefit our communities, small businesses, and our identity are slashed.
