California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 46

Introduced by Assembly Members Calderon and Nazarian

(Principal coauthor: Senator Allen)

March 17, 2015

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 46—Relative to the Arts Council.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 46, as introduced, Calderon. Arts Council: funding.

This measure would declare the importance of the arts to the state and the essential role of the Arts Council in promoting the arts throughout the state, and urge a unified effort between the Legislature and the Governor to provide a substantial increase in the General Fund appropriation to the California Arts Council in the 2015-16 Budget Act.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Since the 1970s, the Arts Council, also known as
the California Arts Council, has served the state by strategically
promoting increased access to the arts for all Californians,
particularly for residents living in communities that lack sufficient
and convenient opportunities to experience the benefits of the arts
in their lives; and

WHEREAS, In the past, the state appropriated funds that could
meaningfully support the programs of the Arts Council. However,
beginning in 2003, the annual funding of the Arts Council from
the General Fund drastically dropped, and since that time, the
funding has remained essentially flat at a $1,000,000 annual
appropriation, making California one of the lowest ranked states
to invest in the arts on per capita basis. The programs of the Arts
Council that once reached rural towns, underserved urban
neighborhoods, prisons, and schools have either been depleted or
discontinued entirely; and

WHEREAS, The arts invigorate the state and national
economies. The creative sector has become one of the state’s most
important drivers of economic growth. The 2013 OTIS Report on
the Creative Economy, analyzing the economic impact of the
creative economy in the state, concluded that 9.7 percent of jobs
in the state are connected, directly or indirectly, to the creative
industries. A recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic
Analysis concluded that the arts and culture sector represent 3.2
percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2011; and

WHEREAS, The arts bolster small and large businesses and the
nonprofit sector. Local merchants directly benefit when people
attend art events in their community because attendees make
purchases related to the event, including, among other things, meals
and parking. Nationally, in 2011, exports outside the United States
of art-related goods, including, but not limited to, movies,
paintings, and jewelry, substantially increased and resulted in a
trade surplus within the arts industry. The national nonprofit arts
industry annually generates billions in economic activity and
provides millions of jobs; and

WHEREAS, The arts increase tourism and travel. Arts travelers
are ideal tourists, staying longer and spending more to seek out
authentic cultural experiences than other types of travelers. Reports
show that the percentage of international travelers visiting museums
and attending concerts and theater performances has steadily grown
since 2003; and

WHEREAS, The arts spark creativity and innovation in the
workforce. Creativity is recognized as one of the top five applied
employee skills sought by business leaders. Nobel laureates in the
sciences are 17 times more likely to be actively engaged in the arts
than other scientists; and

WHEREAS, The arts enhance our society. A recent study
demonstrated that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads
to higher civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child
welfare, and lower poverty rates. A vibrant arts community ensures
that young people are not left to experience their society through
a pop culture and tabloid marketplace; and

WHEREAS, The arts improve healthcare. Nearly one-half of
the nation’s healthcare institutions provide arts programming for
patients, families, and staff on the basis that art programs promote
healing in patients, resulting in shorter hospital stays, better pain
management, and less medication; and

WHEREAS, The arts are fundamental to our human experience.
The arts inspire us to see our human potential by fostering
creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts help us express our
values, build bridges between cultures, and bring people together,
regardless of perceived differences in ethnicity, religion, or age.
As a well-known idiom reminds us, “[w]hen times are tough, art
is salve for the ache;” and

WHEREAS, The arts improve academic performance. Students
with an education rich in the arts have higher grades and
standardized test scores and lower rates of dropping out of school.
Students with four years of arts or music in high school average
100 more points on their SAT scores than students with just
one-half of a year of arts or music. While art education is mandated
by state law, California is failing to provide a sufficient arts
education. For the past 30 years arts education in schools has been
disappearing at an alarming rate. Between 1999 and 2004, student
enrollment in music education declined by almost half. The state’s
recent fiscal crisis has resulted in still more dramatic cuts to visual
and performing arts education programs for students throughout
the state; and

WHEREAS, The Governor’s currently proposed funding for
the Arts Council in the 2015-16 Budget Act is a total of
$5,000,000, a combination of $1,000,000 from the General Fund,
$1,000,000 matching federal funds, and the remainder consisting
of revenues from a specialty license plate supporting the arts; and

WHEREAS, By increasing the state’s investment in the arts
through funding the programs of the Arts Council in the 2015-16
Budget Act, the Legislature and the Governor would strengthen
the ability of the Arts Council to invigorate the state and national
economies, including businesses of all sizes and the nonprofit
sector, foster creativity in the lives of people in their workplace
and communities, secure a more solid cultural and educational
experience for our children, and cultivate healthy human lives,
both physically and emotionally; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares the importance
of the arts to the state and the essential role of the Arts Council
promoting the arts throughout the state; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges a unified effort between
the Legislature and the Governor to provide a substantial increase
in the General Fund appropriation to the California Arts Council
in the 2015-16 Budget Act; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit
sufficient copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate
distribution.