Fosston Republican Steve Green has been suspicious for a while now about the activities of the Minnesota State Arts Board--and he's introduced a bill to do something about it.
HF1786 does not attempt to implement the recommendations laid out in the Office of the Legislative Auditor's February 2019 report on Minnesota State Arts Board Grant Administration. instead, Green and his Republican co-authors, Glencoe's Glenn Gruenhagen and Chaska first-termer Greg Boe have authored a bill that strips Legacy money from the board and directs it to youth arts and cultural education related to Minnesota's heritage.
Strike through across text means that the old language now in the law will be deleted, while underlined text means that new language will be added to the statute. Here's the bill:
A bill for an act relating to arts and culture; modifying allocations of arts and cultural heritage fund; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 129D.17, subdivision 4.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 129D.17, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4.
Minnesota State Arts Board arts and cultural heritage youth experience allocation.
At least 47 percent of the total appropriations from the arts and cultural heritage fund in a fiscal biennium must be for grants and services awarded through the Minnesota State Arts Board, or regional arts councils subject to appropriationd that provide hands-on educational opportunities and youth experiences to inform and educate Minnesota youth on art and Minnesota's history and cultural heritage.
That boon to Minnesota's youth would be quite the wallop to the Minnesota State Arts Board and regional art councils. The OLA report notes:
The state of Minnesota funds arts, in part, through the Minnesota State Arts Board and 11 regional arts councils. Between the board and councils, arts related grants and services are available to artists and organizations throughout the state.
The Legislature funds the Arts Board through General Fund and Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (ACHF) appropriations.1 Board appropriations for Fiscal Year 2019 included $31.7 million from the ACHF and $7.5 million from the General Fund. The Legislature designated almost 30 percent of the appropriations for grants to regional arts councils.
The Legislature has reduced the Arts Board’s General Fund appropriations, but has increased appropriations from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The Legislature has reduced General Fund appropriations to the Arts Board. The Legislature appropriated over $20 million from the General Fund to the Arts Board for the 2008-2009 biennium. More recently, the Legislature appropriated just over $15 million from the General Fund to the board for the 2018-2019 biennium, a reduction of more than 26 percent, before adjusting for inflation.
Since 2010, the ACHF has provided most of the Arts Board’s funding. The ACHF appropriations have increased the board’s overall funding, but the funds include more requirements related to their use than do General Fund appropriations. For example, recipients of ACHF monies must identify and measure outcomes from the use of the funds.
In a January 24, 2019 Legislative Update to his constituents, Green reported:
On another note, I am eagerly awaiting a report from The Office of the Legislative Auditor, which has been investigating how the Minnesota State Arts Board has been allocating and monitoring Legacy funds. The Arts Board is the state’s largest recipient of Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund dollars and I am curious to see what the legislative auditor has discovered. I will get back with more once the report is made public.
Green has yet to report back--at least in any updates and news on his official webpage. Nor has he told constituents about the new bill, which has no state senate companion. All in good time, one supposes.
Last year, Green played a central role in the Pioneer Press story, Anti-pipeline video game sparks calls for better oversight of Legacy funds. Christopher Magan reported:
How much control should government bureaucrats have over what’s created with state money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund under the Minnesota Legacy Amendment?
State Rep. Steve Green, R-Fosston, thinks there needs to be more oversight after a Michigan State University professor used a $3,290 grant from the Legacy fund to design a video game meant to raise awareness about why indigenous groups oppose pipelines.
The game, Thunderbird Strike, lets users control a bird that can strike trucks, refineries and pipelines with lightning bolts. Green said the game amounts to supporting domestic terrorism.
“I realize art is up to interpretation, but this video game holds absolutely no benefit to the taxpayers of Minnesota who paid for it,” Green said in a statement. “It is a disgrace that someone would work the system this way, using tax dollars to produce violent messages.”
Read more about Green's goals in a press release: Rep. Green bill to stop abuse of state arts funding heard in House. Green has re-introduced the bill this session as HF0358.
While Green, an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, may be uncomfortable around arts funding "meant to raise awareness about why indigenous groups oppose pipelines," he certain loves himself some pipelines. Headlines for press releases on his official webpage include Green Statement on Sandpiper Pipeline, State Representatives Condemn Illegal Tampering of Pipelines, Encourage Governor to Speak Out Against Activists, Green calls out Gov’s administration, urges public action on pipeline replacement plan, Green ‘cautiously optimistic’ regarding PUC decisions on Line 3 replacement, and Rep. Green: Walz fails first big test by challenging Line 3 project in court.
Does HF0358 have a chance of becoming law? Bluestem is skeptical, although Green sits on the Legacy Finance Division, as does one co-author, Boe.
It's quite possible Green and Boe will have an ally in Division minority lead, Nisswa Republican Josh Heintzeman. Readers may recall how Heintzeman took umbrage with a State Arts Board funded Artist Initiative project by Jim Denomie that reflected on anti-pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota from our post earlier this week in GOP lead on Legacy Finance objects to image of Trump groping woman's pussy, blames painter.
Hannah Jones also took a look at his distain in Minnesota House Republican upset about painting in which Trump gropes a woman's crotch today in the City Pages.
Is this backdoor censorship? Just a dislike of state-sponsored artwork? Or just some guys thinking of the children.
Whatever the case, without a majority in the House or a companion bill in the Senate, it's probably not going anywhere. Nonetheless, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts advocates might want to visit these chappies on March 12, Arts Advocacy Day, and tell them to knock it off.
Painting: Jim Denomie's "Wounded Knee 2016," another work in his reflections on the Standing Rock protests. Read Sheila Regan's review of the show, An Indigenous Artist Captures the Racial Violence at Standing Rock, in Hyperallegic.
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
Comments