The city’s Arts & Ideas festival may be competing with the Arts Council for funding, if Gov. Dannel P. Malloy succeeds in changing the way the state pays for Connecticut “marketing” groups.
That was one repercussion from the governor’s proposed budget released Wednesday afternoon.
After the governor’s noon budget address that focused on education and jobs, New Haven legislators and community groups set about scrambling to read the fine print of the proposed $20.7 billion FY2013 budget. (Click here to view the budget documents.)
One early takeaway is that New Haven’s arts groups will now be competing for money, instead of given grants through line items.
The budget zeroes out $378,712 for the Shubert Theater; $171,000 for three groups involved in Westville’s Main Street Initiatives; $797,287 for the New Haven Festival of Arts & Ideas; $378,712 for the Amistad Vessel; and $94,677 for the New Haven Arts Council.
State budget chief Benjamin Barnes said those line items were eliminated as the state aims to shift to a competitive funding model. Those groups would now compete for a consolidated pool of $25 million for “statewide marketing,” he said. The total pool of money would be cut by 8 percent, or $2.4 million, Barnes said. The goal is to “achieve efficiency through competitive procurement.”
State Rep. Roland Lemar, who represents New Haven and Hamden, said cuts to these “cherished arts organizations” are among the concerns he has with the proposed budget.
Lemar said he “fully supports” Malloy’s “ambitious agenda,” which focuses on jobs and education reform — but wants to make sure that happens without undermining other programs.
“I’m concerned about the overall impact on youth programming, social services, safety net services and some of the arts and cultural assets we have in New Haven.” Legislators will hammer out the details in the legislative session, which began Wednesday and lasts three months.
“A lot of the cuts outlined in the governor’s budget would be quite damaging to New Haven,” he said.
Over the next three months, Lemar said, he’ll focus on “ensuring that some of these basic core programming elements that dramatically improve the lives of a lot of New Haveners are not cut.”