19
Feb
2002
Supporters of cultural organizations will descend on Des Moines this week to lobby Iowa legislators for a $10 million trust fund that could be a long-term - albeit relatively minor - funding source for arts groups. Anita Walker, the director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, said she hopes to get 1,000 people to Des Moines to convince lawmakers to improve state funding for the arts.
The department is spearheading an effort to create The Iowa Cultural Trust, a $10 million state fund whose interest income would go toward the operating budgets of arts and cultural organizations throughout Iowa. Supporters will participate in Cultural Advocacy Day at the Capitol on Thursday, February 21, to lobby for the fund's creation.
Walker is blunt in saying that $10 million should be considered only a start, but it's important to make some improvement, however small. Iowa ranks 41st among states in state support for the arts, and the cultural trust would only begin to address that deficiency. "I don't want to pretend this is a panacea," she said.
Although the state budget is tight, Walker said, legislators need to understand the importance of cultural investment in reaching long-term state goals such as attracting residents and businesses to Iowa. "Cutting will help us balance this year's budget," she said. "Cutting will not help the state grow."
Under the proposal, the state would earmark $1 million annually for the next 10 years. As arts and cultural organizations raise new money, the state deposits a match in the trust fund. In that way, the state is encouraging private investment in the arts, Walker said. "Locally raised money stays home," she said. "It gives the donor another reason to give."
For the trust's first two years, the interest income - probably totaling between $100,000 and $150,000 - would be used for a statewide marketing campaign emphasizing the importance of arts and culture groups. In the third year and beyond, interest income from the trust fund would be distributed to organizations through an application process, although at this point the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs has not proposed what that process would be.
Supporters of the trust argue that the lack of a detailed fund-distribution mechanism is an advantage. "Here we're starting with a macro view and working down" into details, said Lance Willett, executive director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. "It's emblematic of this very new kind of thinking" that's more concerned with ideas than minutiae.
Yet this approach neglects that contributors - whether from state government or the private sector - generally want to know how the money they're giving is going to be used.
Governor Tom Vilsack included the first $1 million for a cultural trust in his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2002-3, and the "enabling" legislation - House File 2288 - has a good chance of passage, according to Walker. That bill has attracted 16 sponsors, both Democrats and Republicans, but it does not have any money attached to it. The legislature would still need to appropriate $1 million to make the idea a reality. The Department of Cultural Affairs hopes to have the trust in place in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Walker points to the sponsorship of Representative Dave Millage, a fiscal conservative and head of the House Appropriations Committee, as a sign that the proposal has a shot.
"I feel pretty confident" about House File 2288, Walker said. "The big fight is going to be for the money."
The General Assembly must appropriate the $1 million in funding each year, so advocates must lobby legislators successfully for the next decade to reach the $10 million goal.
Walker stressed that the proposal isn't more financially ambitious because supporters worried that a larger funding request, or one that included the entire $10 million at once, would be rejected in a time when the state is scraping for dollars. "We felt this was doable," she said. "We need a win."
Yet the proposal's modesty means that the incentive for private investment isn't as strong as it could be, because state matching only applies to the first $1 million raised each year; after that, the added incentive to give disappears.
Walker said the cultural-trust bill has advantages beyond money. "We're on the radar screen," she said. "We have a bill. ... They have to talk about arts and culture this year."
The department is spearheading an effort to create The Iowa Cultural Trust, a $10 million state fund whose interest income would go toward the operating budgets of arts and cultural organizations throughout Iowa. Supporters will participate in Cultural Advocacy Day at the Capitol on Thursday, February 21, to lobby for the fund's creation.
Walker is blunt in saying that $10 million should be considered only a start, but it's important to make some improvement, however small. Iowa ranks 41st among states in state support for the arts, and the cultural trust would only begin to address that deficiency. "I don't want to pretend this is a panacea," she said.
Although the state budget is tight, Walker said, legislators need to understand the importance of cultural investment in reaching long-term state goals such as attracting residents and businesses to Iowa. "Cutting will help us balance this year's budget," she said. "Cutting will not help the state grow."
Under the proposal, the state would earmark $1 million annually for the next 10 years. As arts and cultural organizations raise new money, the state deposits a match in the trust fund. In that way, the state is encouraging private investment in the arts, Walker said. "Locally raised money stays home," she said. "It gives the donor another reason to give."
For the trust's first two years, the interest income - probably totaling between $100,000 and $150,000 - would be used for a statewide marketing campaign emphasizing the importance of arts and culture groups. In the third year and beyond, interest income from the trust fund would be distributed to organizations through an application process, although at this point the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs has not proposed what that process would be.
Supporters of the trust argue that the lack of a detailed fund-distribution mechanism is an advantage. "Here we're starting with a macro view and working down" into details, said Lance Willett, executive director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. "It's emblematic of this very new kind of thinking" that's more concerned with ideas than minutiae.
Yet this approach neglects that contributors - whether from state government or the private sector - generally want to know how the money they're giving is going to be used.
Governor Tom Vilsack included the first $1 million for a cultural trust in his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2002-3, and the "enabling" legislation - House File 2288 - has a good chance of passage, according to Walker. That bill has attracted 16 sponsors, both Democrats and Republicans, but it does not have any money attached to it. The legislature would still need to appropriate $1 million to make the idea a reality. The Department of Cultural Affairs hopes to have the trust in place in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Walker points to the sponsorship of Representative Dave Millage, a fiscal conservative and head of the House Appropriations Committee, as a sign that the proposal has a shot.
"I feel pretty confident" about House File 2288, Walker said. "The big fight is going to be for the money."
The General Assembly must appropriate the $1 million in funding each year, so advocates must lobby legislators successfully for the next decade to reach the $10 million goal.
Walker stressed that the proposal isn't more financially ambitious because supporters worried that a larger funding request, or one that included the entire $10 million at once, would be rejected in a time when the state is scraping for dollars. "We felt this was doable," she said. "We need a win."
Yet the proposal's modesty means that the incentive for private investment isn't as strong as it could be, because state matching only applies to the first $1 million raised each year; after that, the added incentive to give disappears.
Walker said the cultural-trust bill has advantages beyond money. "We're on the radar screen," she said. "We have a bill. ... They have to talk about arts and culture this year."
