March 10, 2003 - The following message, written by Pamela G. Holt of Maryland Citizens for the Arts, has been posted to the Maryland ArtSource Web site:

At the March 7th hearing of the House Education and Economic Development Subcommittee, legislators rejected the analysts' recommended of a $5.2 cut to the Arts Council's FY'04 budget, approving a lesser cut of $3 million. The discussions, led by Del. Frank Turner, subcommittee Vice Chair, noted the $2.3 million reduction already made in Governor Ehrlich's contingency budget. The subcommittee then agreed to include an additional $700,000 reduction. They also reduced line items from $700,000 to $300,000. The subcommittee's decision lowers the Arts Council's budget from $14.5 million to $11.5 million and would leave the Arts Council with approximately $1.3 million less than the $12.8 million needed to preserve level funding for current grantees. Subcommittee decisions are not final and may change before their report is provided to the full House Appropriations Committee in upcoming weeks.

Now that the House has made their preliminary recommendation, it is the Senate's turn. We need to direct our efforts toward the members of the Senate Education, Business and Administration Subcommittee who will reconvene this Friday, March 14, to make their budget recommendations for the Arts Council's FY'04 budget.

IN THE PAST, THE SENATE HAS CUT DEEPER THAN THE HOUSE. DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN - KEEP YOUR CALLS AND EMAILS COMING!

ACTION #1 - Make a commitment to calling each subcommittee member over the next week to voice your opposition to the suggested cuts. Please ask your colleagues, friends and affiliated organizations to join you in making calls.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Patrick J. Hogan (Chair)/ 410-841-3686
David R. Brinkley/ 410-841-3704
Nathaniel J. McFadden/ 410-841-3165
J. Lowell Stoltzfus/ 410-841-3645

ACTION #2 - Use the MCA website at www.mdarts.org and Legislative Action Center to send a targeted message to Senate subcommittee members.