BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1662
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Date of Hearing: March 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, TOURISM, AND
INTERNET MEDIA
Ian C. Calderon, Chair
AB 1662 (Ian Calderon) - As Introduced: February 12, 2014
SUBJECT : Arts Council: grants
SUMMARY : Creates an annual continuous appropriation from the
General Fund (GF) to the California Arts Council (CAC) in an
unspecified amount, and makes various legislative findings and
declarations. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the GF shall continuously appropriate an
unspecified amount to the CAC each fiscal year.
2)Requires that these funds shall be used only to issue grants
to further the arts, as otherwise authorized to be issued by
the CAC.
3)Makes the following legislative findings and declarations:
a) Life in this state is enriched by art, innovation, and
creativity.
b) The source of art is in the natural flow of the human
mind, but realizing craft and beauty is demanding, and the
people of the state desire to encourage and nourish these
skills wherever they occur, to the intrinsic and extrinsic
benefit of all.
c) Every dollar in state support for the arts leverages
seven dollars in earned and contributed revenue, and brings
back more than three dollars in taxes to state and local
government entities.
d) California's cultural enterprises provide nearly 500,891
jobs for its residents, accounting for 7.6 percent of total
employment.
e) Non-profit arts organizations contribute $9,000,400,000
to the state's economy.
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f) Non-profit arts organizations are a partner to the
creative industries and play a key role in the 21st Century
workforce and the global economy, including in the fields
of architecture, advertising, consulting, education,
performing arts, museums, and other cultural industries;
design, including electronic design, software development,
film, games, including computer games, historic
preservation, music, new media, publishing, radio,
television, and tourism.
g) An investment in the arts and the creative economy
industries can revitalize a neighborhood or area by
accomplishing all of the following:
i) Stimulating the economy.
ii) Engaging residents.
iii) Drawing tourists.
iv) Providing a sense of community.
v) Serving as a gathering place.
vi) Encouraging creativity.
vii) Strengthening community partnerships.
viii) Promoting the arts and supporting artists.
ix) Developing a positive image for the area.
x) Enhancing property values.
xi) Capitalizing on local cultural, economic, and
social assets.
xii) Creating jobs.
EXISTING LAW :
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1)Creates the CAC, consisting of 11-members who serve four-year,
staggered terms. Nine members are appointed by the Governor,
subject to Senate confirmation, and the Speaker of the
Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules appoint one member
each.
2)Directs CAC to encourage artistic awareness, participation,
and expression; to help independent local groups develop their
own arts programs; to promote employment of artists and those
skilled in crafts in the public and private sector; to provide
for exhibition of artistic works in public buildings; and, to
enlist the aid of all state agencies in the task of ensuring
the fullest expression of artistic potential.
3)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue, for
fees in specified amounts, a special interest license plate
bearing a full-plate graphic design that depicts a significant
feature or quality of the State of California and is approved
by the DMV in consultation with the CAC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement and Support for Legislation : According to
the author, "California's cultural enterprises provide more
than 1.4 million jobs for Californians or 7.8% of total
employment; in addition California's non-profit arts
specifically contribute more than $13 billion to the state's
economy. Additionally, the arts are a key partner to the
creative industries, encourage creativity, help prepare
students and workers to compete in the 21st Century global
economy, attract creative workers and industries of all kinds,
stimulate the economy, engage residents, provide a sense of
community, celebrating diversity and building bridges
understanding, and draw tourists and visitors."
The Californians for the Arts, sponsors of this bill, add in
support, "Since 2003, California has ranked last among all the
states in per capita investment in the arts - allocating just
three cents per person from the GF. This bill will leverage
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the arts as a proven and powerful catalyst for spurring local
economies and for preparing California's workforce to prosper
in the global creative economy. The arts are vital to the
quality of life that we are so very proud of in California.
Your legislation will provide a stable revenue source for
CAC's granting programs to non-profit arts organizations,
leveraging the arts as a significant contributor to
California's economic recovery through tourism, job creation,
social services and educational outreach. This bill proposes
a sound investment for California."
2)Unspecified Appropriation Amount While Author Negotiates
Funding Levels : The author states that the bill does not yet
provide a dollar figure in order to allow for continued
negotiation with the Speaker, President Pro Tem, Budget Chairs
and Governor on a level which with survive and become law. The
author points to the many previous attempts to increase
funding for the CAC, and their collective demise in the fiscal
committees of both houses, as a cautionary tale. Through
negotiation of an agreed amount, rather than presenting a high
but unacceptable figure, he is working to avoid a similar fate
for AB 1662.
3)Background :
a) California Arts Funding and Program Levels : The CAC was
created in 1975 under then Governor Jerry Brown to increase
access to the arts for all Californians. The CAC budget
had grown from its first full year of funding in fiscal
year 1976-77 at $1,917,000 to $32,224,000 in fiscal year
2001-02, when 1,590 grants were awarded to non-profit arts
organizations. In 2003, appropriations to the CAC were cut
by 97%, and GF appropriation from the Legislature has
remained essentially flat at $1,000,000 over the past
decade. Since 2003, California has ranked last or next to
last among the states in terms of per capita investment in
the arts.
Current funding levels for CAC in the fiscal year 2012-13
were just over $5,000,000 broken down by source as follows:
General Fund $1,019,865
Graphic Design License Plate Account $2,782,555
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
$1,085,687
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Special Deposit: Donations $70,000
Tax Check off $324,933
Total $5,309,540
According to their annual report for 2012, the CAC,
"Provided $3.2 million in grants and initiatives to the
non-profit arts sector, putting artists in schools and
underserved communities, providing support for local arts
councils in 55 counties and two major cities, providing
support for statewide arts service and multicultural
networks, organized Poetry Out Loud recitation contest for
over 40,000 students statewide, providing arts programs for
kids and communities in every county in the state."
b) Arts as an Economic Generator : Supporters provided the
committee staff with information to support their
assertions that public investment in the non-profit arts
has been proven to both spark economic activity in
communities and return tax dollars to public coffers.
Pointing out recent research which shows that arts
investments made by the state of Pennsylvania generated
$2.50 for the state's treasury for every one dollar spent.
In California, the Los Angeles County Economic Development
Commission issues an annual report on the Creative Economy,
The 2013 Otis Report on the Creative Economy, which
tabulated the economic activity of the entire creative
economy, found that 1 in 10 jobs in California are part of
the creative industries, the creative industries of
California generated $273.5 billion in total (direct,
indirect, and induced) economic output, and employ 1.4
million workers. The tax contributions of the creative
industries to the state are an impressive $13 billion
dollars annually when one combines the total property,
state and local personal income, sales and other taxes.
c) Arts as Education Catalyst : According to information
provided by the author, the arts also play an important
role in educational retention, as students who participate
in the arts are 5 times less likely to drop-out as students
who do not. In addition, the Alliance for Arts Education
white paper, Policy Pathway: Embracing Education to Achieve
Title 1 Goals claims that educational integration of the
arts into learning can help turn Title 1 deficient schools
around, saying, "Studies find that integrating arts with
instruction in other academic subjects-for example,
teaching skills and content of drama and English Language
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Arts in tandem-increases student learning and achievement
and helps teachers more effectively meet the needs of all
students." One such study, conducted at the University of
Arkansas, found that exposure to the arts demonstrably
increases analytical ability and critical thinking by
substantial margins. The researchers took some children to
a museum, and others were treated to a traveling art
exhibit, while others were not given any exposure to the
exhibit, or field trip. Before and after, the children
were given critical thinking exercises. The results showed
that all children exposed to art displayed higher
analytical and critical thinking skills than those who were
not. The outcomes were especially impressive among rural
students who saw a 33% difference in analytical ability
when compared to their cohort who did not have the same art
intervention exposure. [Learning to Think Critically: A
Visual Art Experiment. (2014) Bowen. Greene, Kisida,
Educational Researcher, 2014 43:37].
4)Prior and Related Legislation :
a) SB 1432 (Lieu), substantially similar to AB 1662, but
with a $25 million dollar continuous appropriation for CAC.
SB 1432 is currently pending in the Senate.
b) AB 580 (Nazarian), also substantially similar to AB
1662, but contained an appropriation of $75 million dollars
for CAC. AB 580 was heard and passed out of this committee
but was held in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on
Suspense.
c) SB 571 (Price), Chapter 430, Statues of 2013, allowed
taxpayers to once again make voluntary contributions to the
California Arts Council Fund on their state personal income
tax returns.
d) SB 1076 (Price), Chapter 319, Statutes of 2010, allowed
taxpayers to make voluntary contributions to the California
Arts Council Fund on their state personal income tax
returns. This act sunset due to failure of the CAC to reach
the statutory threshold of $250,000 in tax donations.
e) AB 700 (Krekorian), of the 2009-10 Legislative Session,
would have established the Creative Industries and
Community Economic Revitalization Fund in the State
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Treasury, and required that 20% of all revenues derived
from the payment of sales and use taxes that are remitted
to the State Board of Equalization by the taxpayers engaged
in specified lines of business, as provided, be deposited
in the fund. The CAC would be authorized to expend the
moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
to issue grants pursuant to the act, as specified. AB 700
was held in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on
Suspense.
f) AB 2728 (Karnette), of the 2007-08 of the Legislative
Session, would have required 20% of state sales and use tax
revenues derived from the sales of specified art-related
goods be deposited in the State Treasury for allocation to
the CAC once the GF achieves structural balance. AB 2728
was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
g) AB 1365 (Karnette), of the 2007-08 Legislative Session,
was a substantially similar measure to AB 2728, without the
balanced budget trigger requirement. AB 1365 was held in
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
h) AB 655 (Leno), of the 2005-06 Legislative Session,
proposed a 1% surcharge on the price of admission to
specified arts and entertainment venues. AB 655 was held
in this committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Californians for the Arts (Sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T. & I.M. /
(916) 319-3450