Zoos in the age of austerity: Only the strong survive

State funding for cultural and arts organizations is down again.

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Zoos in the age of austerity: Only the strong survive

POSTED: Thursday, February 9, 2012, 12:58 PM

Welfare and education spending have dominated the news on Tom Corbett's "lean and demanding" fiscal 2012 budget proposal — but he also had plenty to say (or not to say) about funding for arts and cultural groups. Public television funding stayed flat — at zero — and in fact didn't even appear as an item on the budget; funding for zoos was cut entirely, from an already paltry $450,000 last fiscal year; and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museums Commission saw its funding cut by 3.6 percent (even though its Trails of History sites are estimated to have a $45 million economic impact annually). The commission's funding for museum assistance grants, which were $1.8 million as recently as fiscal 2010, are now zero, according to the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. On the plus side, Pennsylvania Council for the Arts funding stayed constant at $9.065 million. The Cultural Alliance and other groups will be lobbying hard for more help as budgets are considered in the General Assembly.

Posted by Samantha Melamed @ 12:58 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
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