BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
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46 (Calderon and Nazarian)
As Introduced March 17, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+----------------------+-----------------------|
|Arts |6-0 |Calderon, Obernolte, | |
| | |Chu, Hadley, Levine, | |
| | |Nazarian | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Declares the importance of the arts to the state and the
essential role of the Arts Council in promoting the arts
throughout the state, and 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
(CAC). Specifically, this resolution makes the following
findings:
1)Since the 1970s, the Arts Council, also known as the CAC, 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.
2)In the past, the state appropriated funds that could
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meaningfully support the programs of the CAC. However,
beginning in 2003, the annual funding of the CAC from the
General Fund drastically dropped, and since that time, the
funding has remained essentially flat at a $1 million annual
appropriation, making California one of the lowest ranked states
to invest in the arts on a per capita basis. The programs of
the CAC that once reached rural towns, underserved urban
neighborhoods, prisons, and schools have either been depleted or
discontinued entirely.
3)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% of jobs in the state
are connected, directly or indirectly, to the creative
industries. A recent report by the United States Bureau of
Economic Analysis concluded that the arts and culture sector
represent 3.2% of the nation's gross domestic product in 2011.
4)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.
5)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
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steadily grown since 2003.
6)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.
7)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.
8)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.
9)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."
10)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
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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.
11)The Governor's currently proposed funding for the CAC in the
2015-16 Budget Act is a total of $5 million, a combination of $1
million from the General Fund, $1 million matching federal
funds, and the remainder consisting of revenues from a specialty
license plate supporting the arts.
12)By increasing the state's investment in the arts through
funding the programs of the CACl in the 2015-16 Budget Act, the
Legislature and the Governor would strengthen the ability of the
CAC 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 workplaces and
communities, secure a more solid cultural and educational
experience for our children, and cultivate healthy human lives,
both physically and emotionally.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "Despite their strong
contribution to the state, with the single exception of 2014,
California has ranked last among all the states in per capita
investment in the arts - allocating just $1 million from the
general fund annually - since 2003. This adds up to a mere three
cents per person annually. Last year was a bright spot and we
hoped the beginning of moving back toward our rightful place as
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the leader among states in support for the arts, when the Assembly
approved $10 million dollars in our budget proposal, and the
Governor signed the Conference Committee compromise amount of $6
million into the budget. This forward progress must be
maintained; the Governor's proposal to revert back to $1 million
for the CAC is simply not acceptable."
Assembly Member Nazarian, joint author and strong supporter of
CAC, adds, "I am confident that if arts advocates in and out of
the Legislature keep pressing for higher funding during this
year's budget proceedings, the result ultimately should be a
spending plan that builds on the 2014 increase." He concludes by
saying, "This is something we need to speak up on until it gets to
the point that governors automatically include the previous year's
arts appropriation as a starting point for the next round of
budgeting."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
the resolution.
Analysis Prepared by:
Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T., & I.M. / (916)
319-3450
FN: 0000103
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