Here's the testimony I didn't get to give orally at the State House today. (I left during break, as there were still at least 17 more speakers to hear from -- apparently first one there gets put at the BOTTOM Of the pile...) However, I did have backup written copies handy.
Madame Chair, Department and Committee Members,
It is my understanding that the passage of HB 1274 would leave NH as the only state w/out a state arts council and would break what RSA 21-K:1 calls the “inextricable link” between the Council, state library, and historic preservation office.
While HB 1274 seems to be designed to relieve, in some small measure, the state’s budget situation, the Legislature has the obligation to consider at what long-term cost that relief might come. It also has the responsibility to reject the bill should it find – as I do -- that that cost is too high to the citizens of New Hampshire.
There has been inadequate discussion to date of how the absence of the Council (and the Cultural Commission) would impact those New Hampshire businesses which depend on a lively and vibrant arts culture. There has also been insufficient analysis of what the resultant potential loss of revenue would mean, not only to businesses, but also to the state itself. It concerns me that a state representative would bring forth a bill seemingly without first determining, to a reasonable degree, that the bill's benefits to the state clearly outweigh its negative impact on its citizens, and that it is an appropriate way to further the state’s interest.
Second, but just as important, the language of New Hampshire’s RSAs and the state Constitution strongly favor – if not out-and-out mandate -- the continued existence and state support of the Commission and Arts Council. Part 2, Article 83 of the State Constitution makes it the ongoing duty of legislators to encourage private and public institutions for the promotion of the arts. RSA 21-K:1 explicitly recognizes this ongoing duty by citing Part 2, Article 83 as the impetus for creating the Cultural Resources Commission/Department. 21-K:1 also states the legislature’s intent that “a single, strong, visible cultural agency shall assume equal status with other major departments of state government.” (Emphasis added.) Given the broad meaning of the word “institutions” as used in this context, I urge the House – if it has not already done so – to check with the Attorney General’s office -- or seek an opinion from the state Supreme Court -- as to the Constitutionality of HB 1274 before taking any further action on it,
Last year, when the House threatened to eviscerate the Commission and Council by eliminating their funding, opposition was quick and vigorous. One of the most poignant published comments was made by a Mr. John-Michael Albert, who noted, in response to the threatened cuts:
“A broad and deep artistic culture is a democracy’s debt to itself. And paying such a debt says something profound about the democracy’s identity. It says that the democracy believes in its future, and that it recognizes that a future with a rich balance of experiences…. is a future of hope. For a democracy to dismiss the vital contributions that the arts make to its depth and breadth is for that democracy to surrender to despair—the ultimate sin against the spirit of being human.”
Your focus today should be to balance the state’s interests in enacting HB 1274 against the interests of its citizens in benefitting from all that the arts have to offer them. I encourage you to send a clear and lasting message that, in New Hampshire, the arts are not a frivolous or expendable luxury: their value is firmly grounded in the State Constitution and they contribute -- in a meaningful and lasting manner -- to the quality of life to be found in the Granite State.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
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