BILL NUMBER: ACR 46	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Calderon and Nazarian
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Allen)

                        MARCH 17, 2015

   Relative to the Arts Council.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 46, as introduced, Calderon. Arts Council: funding.
   This measure would declare the importance of the arts to the state
and the essential role of the Arts Council in promoting the arts
throughout the state, and urge a unified effort between the
Legislature and the Governor to provide a substantial increase in the
General Fund appropriation to the California Arts Council in the
2015-16 Budget Act.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Since the 1970s, the Arts Council, also known as the
California Arts Council, has served the state by strategically
promoting increased access to the arts for all Californians,
particularly for residents living in communities that lack sufficient
and convenient opportunities to experience the benefits of the arts
in their lives; and
   WHEREAS, In the past, the state appropriated funds that could
meaningfully support the programs of the Arts Council. However,
beginning in 2003, the annual funding of the Arts Council from the
General Fund drastically dropped, and since that time, the funding
has remained essentially flat at a $1,000,000 annual appropriation,
making California one of the lowest ranked states to invest in the
arts on per capita basis. The programs of the Arts Council that once
reached rural towns, underserved urban neighborhoods, prisons, and
schools have either been depleted or discontinued entirely; and
   WHEREAS, The arts invigorate the state and national economies. The
creative sector has become one of the state's most important drivers
of economic growth. The 2013 OTIS Report on the Creative Economy,
analyzing the economic impact of the creative economy in the state,
concluded that 9.7 percent of jobs in the state are connected,
directly or indirectly, to the creative industries. A recent report
by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis concluded that the arts and
culture sector represent 3.2 percent of the nation's gross domestic
product in 2011; and
   WHEREAS, The arts bolster small and large businesses and the
nonprofit sector. Local merchants directly benefit when people attend
art events in their community because attendees make purchases
related to the event, including, among other things, meals and
parking. Nationally, in 2011, exports outside the United States of
art-related goods, including, but not limited to, movies, paintings,
and jewelry, substantially increased and resulted in a trade surplus
within the arts industry. The national nonprofit arts industry
annually generates billions in economic activity and provides
millions of jobs; and
   WHEREAS, The arts increase tourism and travel. Arts travelers are
ideal tourists, staying longer and spending more to seek out
authentic cultural experiences than other types of travelers. Reports
show that the percentage of international travelers visiting museums
and attending concerts and theater performances has steadily grown
since 2003; and
   WHEREAS, The arts spark creativity and innovation in the
workforce. Creativity is recognized as one of the top five applied
employee skills sought by business leaders. Nobel laureates in the
sciences are 17 times more likely to be actively engaged in the arts
than other scientists; and
   WHEREAS, The arts enhance our society. A recent study demonstrated
that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads to higher
civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child welfare, and
lower poverty rates. A vibrant arts community ensures that young
people are not left to experience their society through a pop culture
and tabloid marketplace; and
   WHEREAS, The arts improve healthcare. Nearly one-half of the
nation's healthcare institutions provide arts programming for
patients, families, and staff on the basis that art programs promote
healing in patients, resulting in shorter hospital stays, better pain
management, and less medication; and
   WHEREAS, The arts are fundamental to our human experience. The
arts inspire us to see our human potential by fostering creativity,
goodness, and beauty. The arts help us express our values, build
bridges between cultures, and bring people together, regardless of
perceived differences in ethnicity, religion, or age. As a well-known
idiom reminds us, "  w]hen times are tough, art is salve for the
ache;" and
   WHEREAS, The arts improve academic performance. Students with an
education rich in the arts have higher grades and standardized test
scores and lower rates of dropping out of school. Students with four
years of arts or music in high school average 100 more points on
their SAT scores than students with just one-half of a year of arts
or music. While art education is mandated by state law, California is
failing to provide a sufficient arts education. For the past 30
years arts education in schools has been disappearing at an alarming
rate. Between 1999 and 2004, student enrollment in music education
declined by almost half. The state's recent fiscal crisis has
resulted in still more dramatic cuts to visual and performing arts
education programs for students throughout the state; and
   WHEREAS, The Governor's currently proposed funding for the Arts
Council in the 2015-16 Budget Act is a total of $5,000,000, a
combination of $1,000,000 from the General Fund, $1,000,000 matching
federal funds, and the remainder consisting of revenues from a
specialty license plate supporting the arts; and
   WHEREAS, By increasing the state's investment in the arts through
funding the programs of the Arts Council in the 2015-16 Budget Act,
the Legislature and the Governor would strengthen the ability of the
Arts Council to invigorate the state and national economies,
including businesses of all sizes and the nonprofit sector, foster
creativity in the lives of people in their workplace and communities,
secure a more solid cultural and educational experience for our
children, and cultivate healthy human lives, both physically and
emotionally; therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares the importance of
the arts to the state and the essential role of the Arts Council
promoting the arts throughout the state; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature urges a unified effort between the
Legislature and the Governor to provide a substantial increase in the
General Fund appropriation to the California Arts Council in the
2015-16 Budget Act; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit sufficient
copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate
distribution.