9-14-07
Blagojovich Cuts Arts Budgets
In a high-risk game of political brinksmanship, Governor Rod Blagojevich in mid-August used his line-item veto to slash hundreds of millions of dollars out of the state budget passed by both houses of the Illinois General Assembly. Playing partisan power politics pure and simple, Blagojovich cut 100 percent—every last penny—of the usual Member’s Initiatives, many of which were intended for performing arts organizations.
But the governor only eliminated the earmarks of Democratic legislators—his own party—letting the initiatives of Republican members stand. His action was intended as a direct slap at Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, one of only two or three Democrats statewide who has as much power as the Guv, and perhaps more. In what can only be described as a game of “my clout is bigger than your clout,” the two servants of the people have measured each other for months, pushing the state to the edge of economic shut-down several times.
The governor’s across-the-board amendatory vetoes have hurt and damaged virtually every constituency that has supported him through two gubernatorial elections, among them education advocates, the LGBT community, senior citizens, and arts lovers and the arts industries.
In his original budget proposal to the General Assembly (GA) last spring, Gov. Blagojevich proposed Fiscal 2008 funding of the Illinois Arts Council at $20.6 million dollars, exactly the same as Fiscal 2007. After rejecting the Guv’s budget—largely over a funding mechanism for a new children’s health care initiative—the GA prepared its own budget, which marked up the Illinois Arts Council at $23.2 million. This is the amount sent to the Governor’s desk for signature. Using his line-item veto, Blagojevich not only rejected $23.2, but slashed the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) budget to $16.2 million, its lowest figure in at least eight years.
In other arts-related funding, the Governor cut 100 percent of his own proposal for the Arts and Foreign Language Grant Program (arts in education), for which he requested $4 million and which the GA funded at just over $6 million. Gov. Blagojovich also cut funding for public broadcasting (radio and TV), passed through the IAC, from an approved $5.24 million to $3.77 million. Finally, he cut his own proposal of $992,000 for the Illinois Humanities Council to $713,200, a trim of 28 percent.
A two-thirds vote by the GA can override the Governor’s line-item vetoes; however, Senate President Emil Jones (Dem., Chicago) has aligned himself with the governor against Madigan, and will not allow the State Senate to vote on an override.
Individual legislators in both the House and Senate are introducing specific funding bills to correct the damage done by the Blagojevich vetoes. Insulted as they are by his elimination of their pet MI’s, many also seem genuinely puzzled by the governor’s deep cuts to non-pork programs, such as the IAC.
Ra Joy, executive director of the Illinois Arts Alliance (IAA), says the IAA has issued two calls to action in response to the budget. The first one in August resulted in over 6,000 messages delivered to legislators urging a restoration of full funding for arts and arts in education. The second call to action, issued Sept. 6, asked artists themselves to publicize the cuts and how they might affect the arts.
“We’re particularly concerned about what the cuts will mean to small and mid-sized arts organizations,” Joy said. “It’s very important for those who value the arts to speak up.”
If the Governor’s arts numbers are not increased, Joy added, Illinois will fall to 26th among the 50 states in public funding of the arts, “behind smaller states such as Alabama and Kentucky.”