Advocacy victory! Final California budget restores 75% of arts funding cuts.

Legislators Restores Some Arts Cuts, Advocates Call for Full Funding

Arts Advocates Launch Campaign Urging Governor Newsom to Reverse Arts Funding Cuts Proposed in May Revise

Arts Advocacy Works — but it’s a long game, not a sprint!

It has been a long summer of what seemed like weekly announcements of theater closures and contractions across the state. We now have some good news! During the closing days of the legislative session funding for The Equitable Payroll Fund (SB1116) was included in one of the final budget bills sent to the Governor. As of this writing, we are waiting for Governor Newsom’s signature on the bill that will allocate $11.5 million to implement the Equitable Payroll Fund (SB1116).

It is time for a creative solution

In February of 2021, Californians for the Arts (CFTA) was quoted in a New York Times article about the Otis Report on the Creative Economy and a CFTA study about the impact of COVID on the arts workforce. “Arts workers are suffering from “fragile economic foundations” and “devastating and immediate loss of income,” said Julie Baker, the executive director of Californians for the Arts. “We are facing a California creativity crisis and what we are calling a cultural depression.”

How the California Nonprofit Performing Arts Paymaster (CANPAY) will help educate and support the field

As work progresses to build a service to serve the needs of the performing arts community in California, concerns exist among smaller live arts employers. · Are we in compliance with California’s myriad of employment laws? · What do we NOT know that could hurt us? · How do we best manage payroll with all the different artist unions and reporting requirements?