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STATE HOUSE, SENATE ACT TO RESTORE ARTS FUNDING
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Only Two Days Left; Act Now to Support Arts Council
TAKE ACTION NOW IN SUPPORT OF THE ARTS
 Thanks to your calls and messages, both the Illinois House and Senate passed separate budget proposals last week that restore important funding for the Illinois Arts Council's budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, 2008.
On May 21, the Illinois House passed HB6429,
a budget plan that would restore all of the $4.5 million cut from the
Arts Council's FY2008 budget and allocate an addition $2.6 million.
A few days later, on May 23, the Illinois Senate passed SB1130, a measure that would restore $3.5 million of $4.5 million cut from the Arts Council's FY2008 budget.
With your help, we have worked hard to protect our state's cultural resources. Now, with only a few days left before the May 31 adjournment deadline, we
need your help once again to get House and Senate budgeteers to agree
on a final budget proposal that includes full funding for the arts.
TAKE ACTION NOW IN SUPPORT OF THE ARTS
We have made it extremely easy for you to take action. Click here to access our Action Alert.
·
If your state senator voted YEA on SB1130, you will be prompted
to thank your state senator for that vote and urge him or her to
support full funding for the arts in FY2009.
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If your state senator voted NEA on SB1130, you will be prompted
to urge him or her to fully restore arts funding in FY2009.
Just enter your address and the appropriate, tailored message will appear. All it takes is one minute to make your voice heard!
Please visit the IAA website or read past editions of Arts Advocacy News for background on the Illinois Arts Council and our campaign to restore full funding for the arts in Illinois.
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ARTS BUSINESSES AND JOBS UP IN ILLINOIS
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2008 Creative Industries Report Released
Arts businesses represent 4.3% of all businesses and account for 2.2% of all jobs in the United States according to the Creative Industries Report released by Americans for the Arts (AFTA) this May. Businesses in the study are both for-profit and not-for-profit and range from architecture and marketing firms to museums, symphonies, and theaters.
Illinois is home to 23,643 not-for-profit and for-profit arts businesses that employ 132,882 people according to the report. Arts businesses grew 15% and employment
in the creative industries was up 7.3% from 2007 in Illinois. Illinois ranks fifth in the nation in both arts businesses and arts jobs.
The
study shows the arts are central to the continued cultural and economic
vitality of our state, and every community in Illinois has a stake in
their success.
Reports on arts businesses and jobs in each of Illinois' 19 congressional districts are available online.
Based on Dun & Bradstreet data, the Creative Industries Report tracks arts businesses and jobs in
six industries: museums and collections; performing arts; visual arts
and photography; film, radio, and TV; design and publishing; and arts
schools and services. More information on the methodology is available online at the AFTA site.
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CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL TABLES PROMOTERS ORDINANCE
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Music Community Organizes Against Proposed Regulation
The
Chicago City Council tabled an ordinance on May 14 that threatened to
stifle the city's dynamic music scene by burdening promoters with
prohibitive regulations. Opposition was widespread in
Chicago and throughout Illinois, and the outcry of thousands forced the
City Council to squash the ordinance.
The Chicago Music Commission (CMC), an advocacy organization, is working with the City Council to retool the ordinance, this time with the music community at the table.
Be heard by the City Council: please complete CMC's online survey on the ordinance.
The city's Department of Business Affairs (DBA) drafted Chapter 4-157,
also known as the Promoters Ordinance, to regulate concerts and dance
events in Chicago and root out illegitimate promoters without proper
licensing. This after 21 people lost their lives in a stampede at
the E2 club in 2003. The ordinance would have required promoters
to have a license and liability insurance of $300,000 (in addition to
the insurance of the venue itself).
CMC listed its concerns with the ordinance in a letter to the Licensing and Consumer Protection Committee. Among them:
The ordinance is overly broad.
So loose is the ordinance in its definition of "promoter" that it would
apply to bands that book their own shows and out-of-town theatre troops
touring in Chicago.
The ordinance is overly burdensome.
Rather than exempt promoters working with sufficiently licensed and
insured venues, the ordinance would require an additional license for a
fee of $500 to $2,000 and liability insurance of $300,000.
The ordinance is overly prohibitive.
To be eligible for a license, promoters would have to be 21-years or
older and jump through bureaucratic hurdles including a background
check and being fingerprinted.
Despite the concerns of the music
community, the Licensing and Consumer Protection Committee passed the
Promoters Ordinance on May 7. While the Committee was expected to
report the ordinance to the City Council on May 14, Committee Chair Alderman Eugene Schulter decided at the last minute to hold the ordinance in Committee for further deliberation due to criticism from Chicago's music community and a well-organized opposition.
To
express their opposition to the ordinance, CMC issued a Call to Action
that, according to CMC, generated hundreds of calls and letters to the
City Council. Activists also formed an ad hoc coalition Save Chicago Culture to oppose the ordinance,
and more than 6,000 activists commented on the ordinance on the Save
Chicago Culture blog. When the Licensing and Consumer Protection
Committee conveyed on May 14, scores of concerned citizens attended to testify against the ordinance.
Extensive coverage of the ordinance is available online on the blog of Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times,
including play-by-plays and interviews with the players, like DBA
spokesperson Efrat Dallal Stein, Alderman Eugene Schulter, and musician
Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy. |
STATE FILM TAX CREDIT RENEWED
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Illinois Film Industry Reached All-Time Record of $155 Million in 2007, 80% Increase over 2006
On
May 27, 2008, Governor Rod Blagojevich signed House Bill 2482,
legislation that renews the Illinois Film Tax Credit. The Illinois Film
Tax Credit helps attract film and
television industry business to the state by offering a 20% tax credit
to filmmakers for money spent for Illinois goods and services including wages paid to Illinois residents.
The
bill passed convincingly in both the Illinois House and Senate. HB2482
was sponsored by Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) in the Senate and Reps.
Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) and Angelo Saviano (R-River Grove) in the House.
At
a signing ceremony in Chicago, the governor was joined by Chicago
native Harold Ramis, producer John W. Bosher, and former "Sopranos"
actor Frank Vincent.
"The Film Tax Credit is critical to ensuring that Illinois remains a top filming location. I applaud Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois Film Office for their
work to make Illinois competitive within the film industry," said
Harold Ramis. "As a life-long Chicagoan, I love that I can film
movies like The Ice Harvest in Illinois, bringing jobs and revenue to
our great state."
Governor Blagojevich says that since
the tax credit took effect in 2003, the amount of revenue for the state
has increased dramatically - about 80 percent between 2006 and 2007
alone. In 2007, Illinois film productions made more than 26,500 hires in Illinois - a 110 percent increase over 2006.
A
number of feature films and television series were produced in Illinois
last year including "The Dark Knight" (Batman); "Wanted" starring
Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman; "Fred Claus" with Vince Vaughn;
"Meet the Browns" starring Angela Bassett; "ER" (TV show), and "My
Boys" (TV show).
More than half the states now offer some type
of film tax incentive. For more information about the Illinois
Film Tax Credit please visit the Illinois Film Office online. |
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The
Illinois Arts Alliance (IAA) is the statewide arts advocacy and service
organization promoting the value of the arts to all residents of
Illinois.
Illinois Arts Alliance
203 North Wabash Avenue
Suite 1920
Chicago, Illinois 60601
312.855.3105
www.artsalliance.org
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