BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          ACR  
          46 (Calderon and Nazarian)


          As Introduced  March 17, 2015


          Majority vote


           ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                  |Noes                   |
          |----------------+------+----------------------+-----------------------|
          |Arts            |6-0   |Calderon, Obernolte,  |                       |
          |                |      |Chu, Hadley, Levine,  |                       |
          |                |      |Nazarian              |                       |
          |                |      |                      |                       |
          |                |      |                      |                       |
           ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 


          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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