Article 1 Section 1: Commission on the Arts (General Government)

Differences between House and Senate Substitutes for SB1:

Commission on the Arts

There is exactly 1 (ONE) difference between the House and Senate Substitutes for this section.

The House version provides exactly $1,500,000 less per year in General Appropriations , all of that total taken from Arts Organization Grants, than the Senate version. This swings the statistics on total appropriations from a +8.108% average annual increase for the next biennium to a -5.856% average annual increase.

In theory, a equal compromise on this section would produce a $10,914,288 biennium budget for the Commission on the Arts, with an average annual increase of +1.367%. Given the fact that Texas price inflation averages from 2.5-4.5% in any given year, and that the current recession has pushed near-stagnant prices on the South, a +1.367% two-year average annual increase sounds quite reasonable.

If price cuts were needed from every part of government, then administration would be a prime target, rather than the current cultural tourism marketing and arts and culture education. After all, more people come here for cultural tourism (thousands to millions) than administer the Commission on the Arts (18.0 full-time equivalent employees, with the Executive Director making more than $75,000 under current and both proposed bills).