New York State Spending Reductions Affect NYSCA

(5-4-10) Last week, New York Governor David Patterson proposed a “$620 million Gap Closing Plan” that includes this line item:

Reduce Council on the Arts Grant Funding (2010-11 Savings: $10 million; 2011-12 Savings: $10 million): The New York State Council on the Arts awards approximately 2,300 grants per year to not-for-profit arts and cultural organizations through a competitive application process. After this reduction, $25.2 million would be provided for these grants in 2010-11.

This proposal, according to the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, represents:

• A nearly 40% [39.4%] decrease in Local Assistance funding from 2009-10 levels ($41.6 million)
• A 40% cut to NYSCA's Local Assistance Budget far exceeds proposed cuts at most other New York State Agencies
• Governor Paterson has also proposed reducing NYSCA's administrative budget to $4.84 million in 2010-11. This represents a nearly 12% [11.84%] decrease from 2009-10 levels ($5.49 million)
• The Governor's proposed 2010-11 budget for NYSCA totals $30.4 million. This places New York State's funding of the Arts on par with Minnesota, which provided $30.3 million dollars in arts funding in 2009-10 (the 2nd highest level of funding in the US behind New York). Source: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
• At this level of funding, New York State's per capita spending on Arts would drop from $2.48 to $0.77. New York's ranking as the 3rd highest per capita support for the Arts in the US would drop to 26th, ranking just above Arkansas at $0.74 per capita and below the national average of $0.90 per capita. Source: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies