BREAKING NEWS: Governor Recommends $6.1 Million in Cuts to MCACA

Moments ago, Governor Granholm's Budget Director, Bob Emerson, announced that the Governor is recommending nearly zeroing out arts and cultural grant funding for Fiscal Year 2010.

Under the plan, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and its staff would be transferred into the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The State is planning to sell $100 million in bonds to leverage $1 million in funding of capital improvement arts grants. There will no longer be state dollars for operational grants.

With this cut, the Governor has just asked the Legislature to cut thousands of jobs in Michigan. ArtServe is calling on the entire arts and cultural community to stand up and fight. We must tell the Governor and Legislature how important these jobs are!

The fight to keep these jobs is just beginning and will ultimately be determined in the weeks to come. I implore you to pass this information on to as many people as you know so that we can garner enough support throughout Michigan to tell the Governor that this funding not only provides jobs, a return on the states investment, but provides the unique quality of life that attracts and retains businesses and families to this state.

We will be holding a conference call at 4pm to talk about our plans in moving forward to fight these cuts. If you would like to join this call please dial in at 4pm to 218-936-1100 and enter the Passcode 226 445#

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact Mike Latvis at mike@artservemichigan.org or 248-379-5897.