Stimulus Passes with Arts Jobs Aid

The stimulus package contains $50 million for arts jobs after all, according to the Los Angeles Times:

Americans for the Arts, which mounted a lobbying and public-pressure campaign to get the arts what amounts to a one-sixteen-thousandth share of the spending and tax breaks in the bill, is hailing it as “an important victory.”

The group says its constituents sent more than 100,000 messages and letters to members of Congress, and credits four House Democrats — Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, David Obey of Wisconsin, Norm Dicks of Washington and Louise Slaughter, the New York congresswoman who is co-chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus — with playing key roles in getting the arts included during the conference process that ironed out differences between House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill.

The $50 million for arts jobs had entered that process in limbo — included in the House bill but specifically shunned by the Senate’s version, which contained an amendment that characterized museums, theaters and arts centers as “wasteful” and “non-stimulative” uses of money intended to create jobs.

House Passes Stimulus Bill with $50 million for Artists (Culture Monster/Los Angeles Times)