Legislative Requests for ARTS Day 2024
On Wednesday, May 22nd hundreds of arts advocates will meet with their state representatives at the NC General Assembly (NCGA) in support of the nonprofit arts and culture sector and comprehensive arts education at ARTS Day 2024. Arts North Carolina has compiled a list of specific legislative requests in consultation with legislators, lobbyists and others that are both ambitious, but achievable, and designed to lay the strategic groundwork for years to come. Our three public requests designed for the entire NCGA are:
- $1,000,000 recurring increase for NC Arts Council General Grants
- Provide ALL K-5 students with both Performing & Visual Arts
- Make current funding recurring for A+ Schools of North Carolina
This is a “short session” of the NCGA, meaning that only minor changes are typically made for the second year of the state’s two-year spending plan. This is why our request for a $1 million increase for NC Arts Council General Grants is well short of the $6 million needed to fully fund the many grant programs supported by this request. This will begin a foundation of larger requests in the coming years.
Also, we are asking that the current funding for A+ Schools of North Carolina ($750,000 this year) be made recurring because we have heard that it is unlikely any additional funding will be allocated for most state programs this year. By making the change to “recurring” we can ensure the stability of this valuable program for the future without asking for any additional allocation in the current year. This will also provide a third year of funding which is required for a private foundation to match much of this funding.
While it is unlikely that legislation will be passed this year (our second year making this request) to provide all K-5 public school students with performing and visual art instruction, we know from experience that this may require several years of consistent advocacy before it become law. Arts NC advocated for over a decade for the NC Arts High School Graduation Requirement before it became law in 2020. While we hope we will be successful in this endeavor more quickly, we know that we are likely at the beginning of this initiative.
Finally, while it is not on our public facing agenda, Arts NC is continuing to work with our lobbyists and key legislators to remove restrictions on the $2.5 million allocated to Grassroots Arts Program grants last year, excluding five counties from that funding. We must continue to work together as a single state arts community for an equitable distribution of all Grassroots Arts Program funding to all 100 counties in North Carolina. The NC Arts Council is currently reviewing this program with an eye to supporting rural communities. We are asking the NC General Assembly to remove the current restrictions based on economic tier rankings and county population, both of which are shifting metrics that unfairly hurt communities and make it impossible for the Grassroots Arts Program to provide the stable and consistent funding that these grants were design to provide to all 100 counties.
The 2024 Legislative Request document lists our main asks for the arts and provides information to put those requests into context. Advocates should email this document both before the meeting and afterwards as a follow-up to your legislator. Arts NC will provide printed copies for meetings on May 22nd in Raleigh. This document only provides the requests and the data to back it up, but advocate stories should provide the heart and soul of arts advocacy.
We hope to see many of you for ARTS Day 2024, though even if you can’t make it to Raleigh, you can still contact your legislators by phone or email, or even in-person when they are back in your district on the weekends.