How the Arts in California could be affected by the recent election

Californians for the Arts put on a recent webinar about State of Funding and Legislation for Arts, Culture and Creativity

The most interesting part of this presentation was made by Priscilla Quiroz from Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange, the advocacy, public affairs and association management firm in Sacramento. Yes, this is a lobbying firm. She was the only one that actually addressed the topic. She pointed out that the democrats still have a super majority in both the CA Senate and Assembly. There are now more women  than ever (58) and coming close to a majority (61 men) in the senate, and there are lots of new members as during this election some of the older members retired or decided to try for higher offices. There is a feeling that a  more moderate approach will be forthcoming and this conclusion is based on the bills that passed and were defeated.

Governor Newson has set aside $25M for the department of justice to fight a variety of national law suits against CA.  He has worked to get that done before the new president is inaugurated. This includes protecting civil right, reproductive freedom, climate action and immigrant families, We in the arts realize this is more than the whole budget of the CA Arts Council but these are important concerns.  

Please note: Even though our state only spends  54 cents per person to support the arts, California made it into the top ten most vibrant art states in the country, but only just at #10. This is ranked by per capita supply, demand and public support for the arts by SMU DataArts. San Diego county ranking in Arts Vibrancy is just above 90%.That means it is higher than 90% of other counties in the USA. Not too bad, but we are brought down by public/government support and the lower numbers employed by the arts indexes.

There was concern that there would be a $60 billion deficit in CA this year, but it turned out to be only $2 billion, so even though there are projections for a $20-$30 deficit next year, that has yet to be determined.

Julie Baker of CA for the Arts then gave us a run down of the state of the arts projects which are numerous. We know there was  lots of federal and state money for recovery and relief from the pandemic with that often being a one -time payment. Now lots of federal funding are stopping. And there are many cuts for example the Cultural District funding went from $30 million down to $10M.(More info: North County Networking Event: Affordable Housing for Artists through Cultural Districts.) The Arts in the Park program went from $25 M to $14m. There is a big need for sustained funding so that the fight for funding does not have to be won over and over again.  (more info: State Funding Proposed Cut for the Arts)

In San Diego County, in particular, the Creative project is called Far South/Border North where artists, cultural practitioners, and organizations implemented 71 campaigns across 20 sectors, from education and healthcare to environment and transportation and various artistic and creative forms, from performing arts, visual arts, and literature to music, film, and media. Their work involved 700 artists, created 940 jobs, and engaged people across 37 zip codes in the region’s most disproportionately impacted communities. It brought awareness to urgent issues shaping our region today – including public health, civic engagement, climate, and social justice. 

The other programs that were discussed included:  Prop 28 arts education, AB812 for artist housing connected to Cultural districts,  individual arts fellowships, SB127 a new workgroup to make a strategic plan for the creative economy, two part of prop 4 #91000 ($20m) and #94000 ($25m) from the Natural Resources Agency.

She ended with the announcement that for the first time the creative arts are being identified as an official strategic sector. This has never happened before.

And finally, Julie Baker talked about  the Californians for the Arts Policy Priorities for 2025/26: i.e. protect, invest, build. 

The two other presenters were concerned with the film industry:

Kerri Wood Einertson, SAG-AFTRA Film Industry  announced that they are asking the CA government to double their tax credit incentive program from $330 to $750M per annum to keep film project in CA.  This needs to happen to stay competitive with the enormous rise in film making throughout the world.

Alex Torres, NIVA CA is a lobbyist for the film industry who discussed the crisis in live entertainment industry's ticketing practices. The secondary sales market has nothing to do with the production of the product, but they making a profit off the industry and not giving anything back to it. There are lots of bills that have been proposed about this issue, some good, most bad, and none have passed. This is a real problem with no known solution yet.

You can watch the entire  video of the presentation.

To read about how the election affect the arts at the national level: And the Pendulum Swings: How the election results of 2024 will affect the arts A+ Art Blog by Patricia Frischer