$1 for the arts
I know it's a tired old fundraising idea..."if everybody gave $5, or $10 or whatever - we'd have a million dollars!"
Of course, no one does give that way. But in New York, we're facing a budget crisis and Gov. Paterson is bashing away at the budget like a furious pre-teen with a whack-a-mole addiction. We've gone through this three times now: budget crisis - NYSCA cut. NYSCA restore. Each time, I've made the argument to our legislators that cutting the NYSCA budget a few million dollars hurts a lot of people a lot, and saves the state a few measly bucks - the proposed cuts to NYSCA are typically almost 1/3 of NYSCA's budget, but account for only .0015 (fifteen-one-thousandths or 0.15%) of the total budget gap.
So why the cuts?
Also absent from this stupid leaderless conversation is the idea that we could actually add a few fees or raise taxes a little to save some vital programs - like schools, arts, and parks - when we might be able to postpone costly projects like road building for a few years until the economy recovers (slow down when approaching potholes!). Minnesota has enacted such a tax to preserve the core of their heritage and legacy (however they happen to define it.)
The truth is that if school taxes go up or state income taxes go up a tiny amount we're not likely to notice. Lawmakers bandy about how many gagillion dollars get vacuumed out of your pocket everytime they pay for something with a tax increase.
Think about this - New York has 16 million people. If each one paid a $1 fee each year that's enough to restore the proposed NYSCA cuts. I don't think it should be rammed down people's throats, but what if the state organized a referedum with "legacy projects" on it - things submitted by tax payers to be critical to the future of the state, and let people choose from 10 or twenty things that they would then be compelled to pay a $5 fee toward for the next two fiscal years.
It's not much, but neither are the amounts of some of these critical cuts - nursing homes in your county, local schools, etc. It's an imperfect idea, sure, but that kind of thinking is missing from the whole debate and it needs to be put back in.
Have your voice heard - click here to support a $1 fee for the arts, or submit your own solution.
The State is on Twitter now - be heard! @NYTaxpayer #straighttalkny
Of course, no one does give that way. But in New York, we're facing a budget crisis and Gov. Paterson is bashing away at the budget like a furious pre-teen with a whack-a-mole addiction. We've gone through this three times now: budget crisis - NYSCA cut. NYSCA restore. Each time, I've made the argument to our legislators that cutting the NYSCA budget a few million dollars hurts a lot of people a lot, and saves the state a few measly bucks - the proposed cuts to NYSCA are typically almost 1/3 of NYSCA's budget, but account for only .0015 (fifteen-one-thousandths or 0.15%) of the total budget gap.
One the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that arts spending NY state accounts for over 300,000 jobs and over $25 Billion in annual spending within the state.
So why the cuts?
Also absent from this stupid leaderless conversation is the idea that we could actually add a few fees or raise taxes a little to save some vital programs - like schools, arts, and parks - when we might be able to postpone costly projects like road building for a few years until the economy recovers (slow down when approaching potholes!). Minnesota has enacted such a tax to preserve the core of their heritage and legacy (however they happen to define it.)
The truth is that if school taxes go up or state income taxes go up a tiny amount we're not likely to notice. Lawmakers bandy about how many gagillion dollars get vacuumed out of your pocket everytime they pay for something with a tax increase.
Think about this - New York has 16 million people. If each one paid a $1 fee each year that's enough to restore the proposed NYSCA cuts. I don't think it should be rammed down people's throats, but what if the state organized a referedum with "legacy projects" on it - things submitted by tax payers to be critical to the future of the state, and let people choose from 10 or twenty things that they would then be compelled to pay a $5 fee toward for the next two fiscal years.
It's not much, but neither are the amounts of some of these critical cuts - nursing homes in your county, local schools, etc. It's an imperfect idea, sure, but that kind of thinking is missing from the whole debate and it needs to be put back in.
Have your voice heard - click here to support a $1 fee for the arts, or submit your own solution.
The State is on Twitter now - be heard! @NYTaxpayer #straighttalkny
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