NC Legislature Leaves Raleigh with No Budget & No WNC Arts Relief
On Thursday June 26th the NC General Assembly left Raleigh without passing a state budget for the next two years. Both the House and Senate passed a bill for Hurricane Helene Relief, which Governor Josh Stein signed into law on Friday, June 27th, that would set aside $700 million for relief in western North Carolina. The bill specifically allocated $500 million of that amount; however, it did not include any relief grants for businesses and did not include funds for Helene Arts and Culture Recovery Grants through the NC Arts Council as Arts North Carolina had requested. Legislative leaders made it clear that their work was far from complete for western North Carolina and that they will be returning to Raleigh to continue working on a state budget and Helene Relief in the months ahead. Arts NC will continue to advocate for arts relief funding, increased allocations for equitably awarded NC Arts Council grants to all 100 counties, necessary arts education policy, and comprehensive event ticketing reform.