Information in this article taken from a summary provided by the Utah Cultural Alliance.
On March 5th the Utah Cultural Alliance held a Legislative Wrap-Up, the last of their legislative forums for 2007, which included speakers Carter Livingston, Kim Hale, Sabrina King
Carter Livingston, political consultant and lobbyist, commented that this year’s General Session was unique because there were so many new legislators. He pointed out that a recurring issue at the legislature was ZAP funding: money that the public supports, but that many of the legislators want to re-distribute. The issue will most likely arise every session, but as other counties establish similar funding programs, the ZAP model may become more resilient.
Livingston pointed out that praise should be given to some specific individuals for their emphatic support of the preservation of the integrity of the ZAP program including: Representatives Sheryl Allen (Bountiful), Roz McGee (Salt Lake), and Stephen Sandstrom (Orem), and Senator Greg Bell (Davis).
Kim Hale, Finance Director for the Department of Community & Culture (DCC), highlighted several legislative requests by the department. One of the DCC’s projects, referred to as ‘Digitization’, is aimed at making the State’s collection of art and historical documents more accessible to the public. The original request was for $1.8M one-time funding. The amount appropriated was $1.3M one-time funding.
DCC’s funding request for one full-time Research Analyst was not granted, however the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust received $500,000 (of the $750,000 request), and the Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund received $400,000 (of the $750 request) – both in ongoing funds.
The Utah Heritage Foundation was granted $100,000; the State Library was successful at receiving $100,000 ongoing funds for Enhancement Programs and Development Grants; but the Utah Humanities Council did not receive any of the $35,000 they requested.
Legislative Intern, Sabrina King, remarked that she noted many comments from legislators during the Subcommittee meetings on the high number of organizations making individual funding requests. The committee members expressed that it might be more efficient to make larger appropriations to the ‘pass-through’ arts and cultural organizations, than for the legislature to be accountable for prioritizing the requests of all these individual groups.
Please inform yourself on the cultural and arts issues that were discussed in this year’s legislative session and cheer or chide your legislators accordingly. To learn more visit the Utah Cultural Alliance website.
UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Categories: Public Issues
