Assembly Speaker John Perez boosts state arts funding by $2 million
Submitted by Steve on July 15, 2013
From Mike Boehm, for the Los Angeles Times:
California’s arts grant-making agency announced Monday that it will get $3 million this year from state coffers instead of the $1 million called for in the budget legislators passed in June, thanks to Assembly Speaker John Perez, who’s providing the extra money from discretionary funds under his control.
It’s the first increase in taxpayer-supported funding in more than a decade for the California Arts Council. Since the agency's budget was slashed more than 90% during a recession 10 years ago, California has ranked at or near the bottom nationally in per-capita funding for arts grants.
Before the one-time infusion from Perez, the arts council had received a 7.6% budget reduction for the just-begun 2013-14 fiscal year, down to a fraction more than $5 million. The boost to just above $7 million instead represents a 29.2% increase.