Governor’s FY18-19 Budget
On February 8th, Governor Malloy released his two-year budget proposal,setting the tone of discussions for the next three months about how to close a $1.7 and $1.9 billion budget deficit over the next two years. Overall, the Governor’s proposed biennial budget is a mixed bag for Connecticut’s nonprofit community, including some significant cuts, new funding for certain services, and conversions of state operated services to the nonprofit sector.
Clarification regarding many areas of the Budget is provided in the Office of Fiscal Analysis’
Synopsis of Governor’s Budget Plan FY18 – FY19. For a detailed analysis, contact The Alliance.
Specific to the Arts & Culture:
Arts, Culture and Tourism For FY 2018: the Governor’s proposed budget maintains funding for arts and tourism programs. Funding for specific earmarks has been consolidated in separate lines for Tourism and for Arts and Historic Preservation. The budget also continues to invest in marketing the state as a premier destination for tourism and business growth. Marketing efforts in recent years have proven invaluable in developing this job-rich sector of our economy, particularly in southeast Connecticut with its wide array of tourist destinations.’
Eliminate Arts/Culture/Tourism Direct Line-Item Accounts – DECD
The Governor recommends funding two new accounts: (1) an Arts and Historic Preservation Grant account and (2) a Tourism Grant account, in lieu of the direct line-item accounts for arts/culture/tourism organizations. There are no savings through this recommendation,though it should be noted that savings of $3.1 million are achieved from the direct-line item arts/culture/tourism accounts via the annualization of the FY 17 holdback policy recommendation in FY 18 and FY 19 (a reduction of $4.6 million in each FY.)
- Powerpoint Presentation: Introduction to the FY 2018-FY2019 Budget
Arts and Tourism Funding:
- Increases funding for Arts Commission by $600,525 in FY 2018
- Increases funding for Statewide Marketing by $1.8 million each year
- Funding for line item recipients in arts and tourism is consolidated into two accounts and maintained at current levels in FY 2018
SAVE THE DATE: Appropriations Committee Budget Hearings
The Appropriations Committee has released the schedule of the state budget hearings.
Friday, February 17th: Conservation and Development (Room 2C)
10:30 A.M.-11:15 A.M. Department of Economic and Community DevelopmentPublic Budget Hearings (Room 2C) 4:30 P.M.
If you are unable to testify in person, please consider submitting written testimony to the Committee at APPtestimony@cga.ct.gov
|
|||||||||||||||||