Save the Arts in PA

From the Philadelphia Inquirer.
By Olivia Biagi
Inquirer Staff Writer

Waving signs urging “Save Our Arts” and “Don’t Tax Behind Our Backs,” about 150 people gathered outside the Bellevue in Center City yesterday to protest a proposal to tax tickets for museums and performing-arts venues to balance the state budget.

State Sen. Larry Farnese, (D., Phila.) one of three state senators who participated in the noontime rally, said he would “join my colleagues in the Philadelphia Senate delegation, and we will fight to oppose this tax.”

Though Farnese openly opposed the tax at the rally, he did not say he would oppose the state budget when it comes up for a vote in the legislature. Farnese said that many of the arts institutions affected by the tax were in his district and that he and the Philadelphia Senate delegation, under Chairwoman Sen. Shirley Kitchen, would meet to “see what we can do.”

Farnese also said he had “not seen any language on how this money [from the tax] will be spent.”

“A community’s health is judged by the health of its arts,” said Sen. Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery). He also encouraged the crowd to spread the word that the tax should not go through.

The proposed tax would add 8 percent to the cost of tickets to plays, museums, concerts, and zoos in the city and 6 percent elsewhere. Movie tickets and sporting events are exempt. “It’s ironic that [the arts will have] a higher tax than major-league sports,” said Todd Holtsberry, a member of the Secret Room Theatre and the Philadelphia Dramatists Center. “Their players seem to get paid a lot more money.”

Currently, fans at pro sporting events pay the city’s 5 percent amusement tax on tickets.

During recent budget talks, Gov. Rendell insisted that legislative leaders come up with additional sources of revenue to close a budget hole and recommended lifting some exemptions to the state sales tax. He said he didn’t care where the money came from as long lawmakers didn’t tax clothing or food. Senate GOP leaders chose what critics are now calling the “arts tax.”

The deal, tentatively approved by Rendell and Senate and House Democratic leaders, also calls for the bulk of the money raised from the tax to go into a separate fund that would be funneled back to cultural attractions statewide in the form of grants. Plans for the somewhat impromptu demonstration yesterday began Tuesday night when Thom Weaver, a theater lighting designer, sent out an e-mail to members of the arts community that went “viral.” He said excitement and fear over the proposed tax drew an immediate response.

At the rally, Weaver told the crowd that the legislators supporting the tax think they are “attacking the elite artists wearing their scarves and drinking lattes. . . . But take a look around you. I don’t see any of those here. I see hardworking men and women who need to provide for their families, provide for their children, pay mortgages.”

The protesters, mostly college students and members of the theatrical union Actors Equity, marched south down Broad Street to the University of the Arts after the protest, chanting “Save our arts!”

“I think it’s ridiculous that they’re taxing our arts,” said Tess Kunik, a freshman at the University of the Arts.

“There are better things that could be taxed,” said Graham Hooper, also a freshman at the school.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer.
By Olivia Biagi
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Waving signs saying “Save our Arts” and “Don’t Tax Behind Our Backs,” nearly 150 people massed at the Bellevue in Center City to protest a proposal to tax tickets for museums and performing-arts venues to balance Pennsylvania’s state budget.

State Sen. Larry Farnese, one of three state senators to join in the noontime protest, said he “will join my colleagues in the Phildelphia Senate Delegation, and we will fight to oppose this tax.”

State Sen. Daylin Leach denounced the proposed tax as a “backroom deal” and said he would oppose the tax, but not necessarily the state budget.

Leach encouraged the crowd to spread word that the tax should not go through.
Read more…

From The Daily Pennsylvanian

Lawmakers’ decision to tax cultural forums is an easy, but wrong out after budget negotiations

Working over deadline usually prompts hasty compromises and quick decisions, but Gov. Rendell and the Pennsylvania legislature took their sweet time agreeing on a state budget, which was announced last Friday. As the last state to do so, their “deal-making” is hardly something to applaud. And given the tentative budget’s state sales tax on performing arts, there may soon be even less to applaud in Pennsylvania.

In addition to taxing performing arts – plays, ballets, concerts, museum admissions, zoos, historical sites and parks – the new budget taxes cigarellos for the first time, raises cigarette taxes by 25 cents a pack, takes an additional 2 percent of slot-machine gambling revenue and legalizes table games, like blackjack, poker, craps and roulette.

It makes sense to tax tobacco products and gambling since they are generally seen as “bad.” The idea of a sin tax is certainly not new, and lawmakers obviously relied heavily on that idea.

But here’s the thing: Far from being a societal ill, it’s actually good for people to enjoy the arts. Performing arts and intellectual attractions don’t just promote cultural appreciation – on a more practical level, these activities get people out in the community and allow time with family and friends in some good wholesome fun. And without any tax, it already costs a family of four $66 to see the Philadelphia Zoo. Toss in an 8-percent sales tax, and it would cost the same family $71.28.

Additionally, part of the notion of a sin tax is that people will grumble, but they will still buck up for their nicotine fix or gambling habit. But that’s not necessarily true of an occasional cultural excursion, especially in this economy. According to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, states reduced their arts funding this fiscal year by 7 percent on average (The amount of arts funding for Pennsylvania is still undetermined.).
Read more…

From the Wayne Independent

Unprecedented lack of a state budget is hurting local nonprofit cultural and arts organizations. On top of less money, they now hear that the state six percent sales tax may be applied to their admission prices. The news was not welcomed by affected organizations in Wayne County.

As was reported by The Associated Press, the plan would extend Pennsylvania’s six percent sales tax to tickets for the performing arts, museums, historical sites, zoos and parks. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman stated it is partly designed to shift the taxpayers’ share of financing those activities onto their patrons. Much of the money, however, would flow into the state’s coffers to be used to be spent on other programs.
The proposed new tax is included in the current budget version on the table in Harrisburg.
Read more…

From KYW Newsradio

by KYW’s Tony Romeo

Despite pleas from the arts community, a spokesman says Governor Rendell is standing by a proposed sales tax on admission to cultural sites and events as part of the state budget deal announced last Friday.

Spokesman Barry Ciccocioppo says Governor Rendell met with leaders of the arts community for about a half an hour on Wednesday. Ciccocioppo says the governor listened to their concerns, and reminded them that the sales tax on tickets was a Senate Republican proposal:

“But that he accepted it because it met his criteria that a budget provide recurring revenue to balance this year and next, and provide funding for education and health care.”

Ciccocioppo says the governor expressed frustration that lawmakers wouldn’t defy “special interests” and consider a tax on smokeless tobacco products, but also said he is hopeful that the sales tax on tickets will create a special fund to insure that the arts community is protected in future budgets.

By Patriot-News Editorial Board

Many performing arts programs, zoos and museums are run on a shoestring budget.

They usually use much of their ticket sales to pay staff and keep operations functioning.

That’s why we are surprised to see budget negotiators apparently asking these groups to take on the added financial burden of helping to fill the gaping budget hole.

Lawmakers and Gov. Ed Rendell are counting on these entities to bring in up to $120 million in state revenues for the spending plan they are moving forward for a vote in the General Assembly.

Tremors are traveling through the arts community for organizations such as the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Open Stage of Harrisburg and Hershey Entertainment, which books concerts at Hersheypark Stadium and Giant Center.

With no warning, they are all trying to understand exactly whether the 6 percent sales tax would apply to them.

Sen. Jake Corman, Republican appropriations chairman, said that only “professional” performances would be taxed. What does that mean?

Most small nonprofit groups, from museums to choral groups to community theaters, operate with only a few paid staff, the rest are volunteers.

Certainly an argument could be made for taxing bigger entities that bring in acts such as Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, but taxing smaller organizations just doesn’t make sense.
Read more…

From the Chambersburg Public Opinion
By Rob Luff

FRANKLIN COUNTY — A tentative solution to the 85-day state budget impasse could make a number of organizations, school districts and municipalities happy, but arts and entertainment venues are not among those rejoicing.

The new budget deal, which is yet to be officially passed and approved, extends the statewide 6 percent sales tax to arts and entertainment venues and performances.

Tickets for concerts, plays, ballets and other performances were previously exempt from the sales tax but will soon lose that exemption if the budget is approved. Museums and zoos are also included in the tax, but tickets to movie theaters and professional sporting events remain exempt.

Local theaters react

Several local arts organizations say they are concerned and confused at the news of the new tax as they continue to watch their revenue from the state decline.

They expect it to harm their already-wilting budgets and deter patrons from attending as many shows as before.

“That’s an awful amount of tax when ticket sales are already down,” said Linda Boeckman, manager of the Capitol Theatre in Chambersburg.

She said the tax comes at a difficult time for theaters and play houses as they suffer with the recession.

Ticket sales took an “absolute nosedive” for the theater last year as the economy worsened, Boeckman said. Sales picked up this year, but they are still down by about 10 percent compared to average years.

Now, the theater’s $30 ticket price would jump by about $1.80.

That’s not a significant amount, Boeckman said, but it would cost a family of five almost $10 more to attend a play. Those families would probably cut back on buying concessions items, she said, which affects the theater’s bottom line.
Read more…

A plan to extend Pennsylvania’s sales tax to the performing arts, museums, historical sites, zoos and parks is partly designed to shift the taxpayers’ share of financing those activities onto their patrons, an architect of the proposal said Tuesday.

“The idea was to try to make it a user fee as much as possible,” said Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The plan, a late addition in the negotiations that yielded a deal that would end Pennsylvania’s status as the only state without a complete budget, has provoked strong opposition but advocates for the arts likely face an uphill climb in their effort to derail it.

The proposed elimination of the current exemptions for artistic and cultural events is expected to generate roughly $120 million a year _ about twice as much as those activities currently receive through various state appropriations, Corman said.
Read more…

From the Philadelphia Daily News
By Kitty Caparella

Culture czarina Peggy Amsterdam may as well have been rallying compatriots to battle on the ramparts in “Les Miserables.”

Last night, the feisty Amsterdam urged mavens of the region’s arts and culture community to oppose the state’s 6 percent sales tax on tickets to concerts, live theater, performing arts, zoos and museums.

“This is the fight for our lives,” said Amsterdam, president of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, which recently unveiled a campaign seeking to double audiences to arts and cultural events by 2020.

“Why are the arts singled out, and movies and sports exempt?” she asked. Revenues from the proposed tax would amount to “only a paltry one-third of one percent of the budget.”

To Gov. Rendell, she asked one question: “What were you thinking?”

The crowd responded with thunderous applause at the alliance’s annual meeting at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Read more…

From the Philadelphia Inquirer.

By Karen Heller
Inquirer Columnist

On the plus side, at least this time the brilliant aesthetes in Harrisburg didn’t vote themselves a juicy pay raise.

Instead, in a last-minute quarterback sneak of budgetary maneuvers, legislators taxed culture – museums, music, the theater – all the things fancy-pants city slickers attend.

They avoided taxing manly-man pursuits like football, just as they didn’t tax cigars (only cigarillos) because that might put a damper on their smoke-filled rooms.

They didn’t tax movies, either, though attendance is up 9 percent nationally. Heaven forbid Harrisburg’s Renaissance men pay more to drool over Jennifer’s Body.

Instead, they won an 8 percent surcharge on tickets and membership at arts and cultural organizations in Philadelphia, 6 percent elsewhere, at a time when endowments are down, giving is down, and attendance is down. The taxes will create a new arts fund, which would return revenue to the arts. The logic is surreal.

“I don’t know what Gov. Rendell and the leaders of the legislature were thinking,” Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance president Peggy Amsterdam said before launching a “Fight the Arts Tax” movement at last night’s fall meeting. “The really sad thing is we try to make cultural experiences accessible and affordable to everyone. This is going to make it harder.” Increased ticket prices, she argued, will drive away even more patrons already hit by the recession.
Read more…