Arts in the News

From the Mayor:

The arts are an integral part of a healthy community's life and development. The range of options that residents are able to choose from, "after work", help define the quality of their lives and bring out another side of defining yourself. Max Heller's passing prompted Joe Riley [Mayor of Charleston SC] to comment on Mayor Heller's [Greenville SC] influence on supporting the arts in Greenville which, in large part, lead to the revitalization of both communities. We enrich ourselves and our community by participating in and supporting our own cultural arts efforts. We all need to truly be a pART of the story in our community.

Don Godbey
Mayor, Mauldin SC

IN THE NEWS

State Budget & SC Arts Commission
Read the Story Here

As the State’s budget nears the finish line before being enacted into law, there is one more major hurdle to cross – governor vetoes. The State House and Senate have both completed and passed a balanced budget for the next fiscal year and it now heads to Gov. Nikki Haley’s desk for final approval. In that process, she has the right as governor to line-item veto any component of the budget through June 28th. From there the vetoes go back to the House to be overturned and then have to be overturned by the Senate, if both entities wish to do so, by a 2/3 majority vote.

In her first State of the State Address earlier this year, Gov. Haley punctured the eardrums of many across the state when she stated, “The reality is the role of South Carolina’s government in the year 2011 can no longer be to fund an Arts Commission at a cost of $2.5 million.” The specificity of her remarks shocked many in the arts industry in the state and across the country and sparked a state-wide advocacy effort to keep the South Carolina Arts Commission [SCAC] alive in both the House and Senate budgets. The efforts were successful, cutting only what Ken Mays, the Executive Director of the SCAC, has called a “manageable” 6% from the SCAC budget for next year. Yet, Gov. Haley has made it clear over the past two months that if a budget arrives on her desk that includes funding for the SCAC, that she will veto it.

To the arts community, the SCAC is much more than a vital granting organization, it represents our state government’s support of over 78,000 employees in the cultural industry across the state and the support for many arts education programs in many state public schools.  The main issue with the expected veto is that the budget Gov. Haley has on her desk is already balanced.  There is no deficit in FY2012′s budget.  There is no financial need to trim anymore from the state budget.  This proposed budget already includes a 6% cut in state funding for the SCAC – down to $1.9million (this includes other federal stimulus money that expires next year).

We at the MCC urge you to read the newsletter linked above from SCAC Executive Director Ken May and to contact your local State House Representatives and Senators to overturn the expected veto.  This is one of the most pressing matters in the arts industry right now for SC.  If the SCAC is eliminated, SC will become the only state other than Kansas to not have a state arts agency.