CALL TO ACTION: Urge Support for Arts, Two Bills Filed for Arts Funding in NC House
NC House Chairs of the Caucus on Arts and Arts Education, Rep. Becky Carney (D- Mecklenburg) and Rep. Jeffrey Elmore (R- Wilkes), have been joined by Rep. Erin Parė (R- Wake) and Rep. Pricey Harrison (D- Guilford) as primary sponsors on two bills filed last week in support of Arts North Carolina’s funding requests for the NC Arts Council. Arts NC is grateful to these legislators for their steadfast support of the arts and this bipartisan initiative to provide funding through NC Arts Council grants.
- House Bill 1105: Makes recurring the additional $1 million in FY23 for the Grassroots Arts Program to reliably and sustainably fund population-based grants to all 100 counties, which are locally controlled to insure state investments meet local needs.
- House Bill 1104: Allocates an additional $500,000 to NC Arts Council General Grants in FY23 to restore funding to 2008 levels and empower targeted investment in rural and urban communities to local arts institutions and creative workers.
The arts are not a cause, they are an industry, and need investment and cultivation to flourish. Arts and culture creates 2.8% of the State GDP and supports 2.6% of North Carolina’s employment. These allocations would provide reliable funding to invest locally in thriving arts and culture industries and creative jobs.
Now is the time to TAKE TWO MINUTES to email your NC House Representative and your NC Senator to ask for their support (or thank them for being a sponsor/cosponsor) of these arts appropriations. Our email tool will do all the work, but you can customize your message in support of this sustainable funding to build resilient local communities and economies through the arts.
The NC General Assembly is moving through the budget process more quickly than in recent years- so do not delay- write your state representatives TODAY!