One of these is the Texas Commission on the Arts. I understand that the state balance sheet needs to be balanced. Simply put, Increase revenues or Decrease costs are our options, and since those in the driver seat can't seem to balance the checkbook through growth, decreasing spending is their only other alternative.
However, this makes me very sad as I believe that it's immensely important to have a solid foundation for arts within a society to enrich people's lives.
From their site one can read great benefits of Arts. Here are some excerpts:
- "...findings show the cultural sector in Austin contributes over $2.2 billion to the economy annually and creates 44,000 permanent jobs. The non-measurable impact is even greater, considering the contributions the cultural sector makes toward the quality of life and economic development of Austin."
- "Additionally, the arts play a role in attracting tourists to Texas, helping tourism, a $60.6 billion industry in 2008, become the state's third largest industry."
Not that Arts will come to a complete halt with this agency shutting down, but I can't begin to imagine how much these people do behind the scenes to enrich our lives.
Here's the news article that I read in it's entirety, and below is a part of it:
Gov. Rick Perry will ask the Legislature to indefinitely suspend funding for four Texas agencies and consolidate the functions of dozens more.The agency changes are part of a sweeping budget plan that would make deep spending reductions across state government.
Funding for the Texas Historical Commission, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Board of Professional Geoscientists and the Board of Professional Land Surveying all would be eliminated in Perry's plan. An additional 21 agencies would be consolidated to 11.
2 comments:
This is sad. Very very sad. Somebody wise once said, there are things that counts that you cannot measure and there are things that you can measure that does not count. Unfortunately some people will not understand that there are things like art the use value that it provides us/not is not the point. What it provides us is what makes us human not tools to make more crap. Now in tough times budgets might be cut but to eliminate something indefinitely...
I think some people forget schools are places where citizens are made not cogs.
exactly... cut the funding in half, or to 1/4, but ELIMINATE it??!?!
Glad i didn't vote for that moron.
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