RACC Blog

Issued by Chris Coleman on behalf of the Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition on 6/5/17

….Last week (6/1/17) Christine sent a message asking advocates to take action in support of arts education. And many of you responded (thank you!) but, SB 313 is still sitting in committee. (SB 313 creates Oregon’s first ever Task Force on Equitable Access to Arts Education and has had a public hearing in the Oregon Senate and was moved to the Joint Ways and Means Committee for funding)

The good news is that your advocacy reached key leaders, but we still have work to do—fewer than half of all committee members heard from a constituent on this issue. If you saw Christine’s email but didn’t have a chance to send your message, there’s still time.

With just over 20 working days till this legislature adjourns, we need advocates to take action now. If you have not already done so, please click this link to send an email asking Ways and Means Committee members to support the creation of a Task Force on Equitable Access to Arts Education today……

Issued by Christine Drazan, Executive Director at Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition and Craig Campbell, Lobbyist, on May 26, 2017.

As we move into this Memorial Day weekend, we only have five weeks remaining in the Oregon Legislative Session. The process has narrowed the policy and spending bills that still have the opportunity to move. This narrowing of legislative measures allows the legislature to move noncontroversial policy bills early in the session and following the revenue forecast, shift their full attention to issues around the budget shortfall and discussions of new transportation and business taxes. Priority legislation for the cultural community is likely to remain in committee until these larger issues are resolved.

BALANCING THE BUDGET

The May Revenue Forecast was released on May 16^th.   2017-2019 budgets are based on this forecast, and now that it has been released, the legislature will begin to finalize budgets and advance discussions around new revenues needed to limit cuts as they work to balance the state budget.

PRIORITY LEGISLATION

The Cultural Advocacy Coalition continues to lobby to restore funding for the Oregon Arts Commission and is supporting a package of endorsed capital construction projects in the cultural sector. Many proposals over the session to address the larger issues of balancing the budget and raising revenues have had the potential to harm the cultural sector. We have worked hard to ensure these issues are understood in their larger context as proposals that would harm the nonprofit sector broadly and would damage access to the arts in Oregon.

The session has been a whirlwind, and the final five weeks will be intense. The Coalition’s priority legislation is listed below. And, you can keep up-to-date on legislation we are tracking by visiting the Take Action section of our website.

• Restore state-level cuts to the Oregon Arts Commission—HB5025
  • $272,000 proposed cut expected to be implemented by the OAC through a 30% cut in operating support grants
• Support continuation of capital investments in cultural projects statewide—HB5530
  • $6 million in lottery bonds requested for construction projects in Cave Junction, Bend, Corvallis, Newport, Portland, Eugene and Cottage Grove that support economic development in the cultural sector.
• Establish a Task Force on Equitable Access to Arts Education—SB313
  • The legislature’s first ever arts education task force is charged with quantifying existing access to arts education; identifying barriers to equity and recommending changes needed to encourage access to the arts within a well-rounded education

Restored funding for the Oregon Arts Commission and the appointment of an arts education task force will be difficult to achieve without substantial grassroots advocacy. If you have not already contacted your own legislators, please do so here. Thank you if you were among the many who sent a message to your legislator this month. Nearly 300 messages went out to 70 legislators, but we need to continue to keep the pressure on! When you click on the link to send your message, please personalize the intro and/or close to your email if you can—the more local and personalized your message is, the greater the impact.

ARTS AND CULTURE ADVOCACY DAY

Once again, thank you, to the many advocates who joined the Coalition for Arts and Culture Advocacy Day. Legislator meetings were plentiful and productive. It is so valuable when stakeholders take the time out of their schedules to connect as engaged constituents. With your help, we will continue to fight to ensure Oregon culture is preserved and protected in this session’s challenging budget environment.

MEMBERSHIP

Coalition members make this work possible. Your support defends fine art from harmful taxes, advances the conversation to address equitable access to arts education and fights for full funding for Oregon’s cultural sector.

For those of you who reading this but are not yet members of the Coalition, I hope you will take a moment to join. Individual memberships range from $50-$500 and can even be set up online with a monthly contribution that fits your budget. $5 a month or a $500 gift today—both memberships help keep the Coalition at the table on your behalf and sustain advocacy for arts and culture.

Thank you for your membership support and for your commitment to the growth and health of the cultural sector in Oregon.

Issued by the Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition (5/15/17)

Last week 138 messages went out to legislators in support of funding for arts and culture in the Oregon Legislature. But we still have work to do, because at last check, 33 legislators did not receive any messages from their constituents. This includes the Speaker of the House! So, we need your help. The revenue forecast (this is the estimate legislators will use to balance the state budget) is released at 8:30AM tomorrow (5/16) –which means legislators need to hear from you right away!

As of today (5/15), budget-writers have slated the relatively small budget of the Oregon Arts Commission for cuts of up to 12%, which could result in reduced funding in grants for arts organizations–of up to 30 percent. Proposals at the federal level to eliminate funding for cultural agencies in FY18 could result in crippling shortfalls in state funding and direct grants to arts, public broadcasting and the humanities. The potential adoption of these proposals, and the proposed cuts at the state level, places arts and culture in Oregon at grave risk.

If you have already contacted your legislators through another email address–thank you!

If not, please use the link below to send a message to your legislators immediately to ask that legislators work together to protect Oregon culture. If you know your legislator personally don’t click a link to send a standard message–take a moment to make a personal call to the legislator’s office to thank them for their hard work this session, and request that arts funding to be restored.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/XfxJTj5mpXxCupG–XUsQw

Issued by the Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition on May 4, 2017

We need your help. While legislators work to address budget and revenue challenges, the relatively small budget for the Oregon Arts Commission faces substantial cuts. Current proposed cuts to the commission’s budget of 12% could result in reduced funding in grants for arts organizations of up to 30 percent. Proposals at the federal level to eliminate funding for cultural agencies in FY18 could result in crippling shortfalls in state funding and direct grants to arts, public broadcasting and the humanities. The potential adoption of these federal proposals, combined with potential cuts at the state level, places arts and culture in Oregon at grave risk.

We are asking advocates to use the link below to send a message to their legislators immediately, to ask that they work with their colleagues to restore funding to the Arts Commission and protect Oregon culture.

Thank you for taking the time to act now.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/pktLUadBBD0z7XQtGCY3pQ

Issued by The Oregon Cultural Trust, February 21, 2017

Salem, Ore. – Oregonians invested more than $4.55 million in the Oregon Cultural Trust in 2016, topping the $4.5 million mark for the second straight year. The funds will support cultural organizations across the state.

“Once again Oregonians have shown their commitment to protecting our famous quality of life,” said Cultural Trust Executive Director Brian Rogers. “We are deeply grateful for their commitment to our shared cultural values.”

“It’s another exciting year for the Cultural Trust as our visibility and impact in communities across the state continues to grow,” said Carole Morse, chair of the Cultural Trust Board of Directors. “We appreciate our donors making culture a priority during a very eventful year.”

The total includes $395,787 raised through the Willamette Week Give!Guide, an 11 percent increase over 2015. It also includes an increase in corporate giving, including donations from Intel employees and a subsequent matching gift from the company totaling $38,575, and continued online giving growth.

The donation total for 2016 comes within a few thousand dollars, less than half of one percent, of matching record fundraising results for 2015.

More than half of the money raised will be distributed directly to Oregon’s cultural groups this summer; the remainder will grow the Cultural Trust permanent fund. Cultural Trust grants are distributed through five Statewide Cultural Partners – Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Heritage, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Humanities and the Oregon State Office of Historic Preservation – as well as to 45 county/tribal coalitions and directly to cultural nonprofits via Cultural Development Grants.

For more go to http://culturaltrust.org/blog/news/donations-top-4-5-million-for-second-consecutive-year/