alert

Coburn Amendment to Cut the Arts Passed
On February 6, 2009, the U.S. Senate, during their consideration of the economic recovery bill, approved an egregious amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that stated:

"None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project."

Unfortunately, the amendment passed by a wide vote margin of 73-24, and surprisingly included support from many high profile Senators including Chuck Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and several other Democratic and Republican Senators.

If the Coburn amendment language is included in the final conference version of this legislation, many arts groups will be prevented from receiving economic recovery funds from any portion of this specific stimulus bill. It is clear that there is still much work to be done in the Senate and in the media about the role that nonprofit arts organizations and artists play in the nation's economy and workforce.

Take Action:
1. Contact Senators who voted for the Coburn Amendment and express your disappointment with their vote. We need these Senators to know that their vote would detrimentally impact nonprofit arts organizations and the jobs they support in their state.

Send a customizable message to your Senators based on their vote on the Coburn Amendment at capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=12612041. The letter will be customized to each of your Senators will appear when you enter your zip code.

If your Senator voted for this funding prohibition, you can send them a message expressing your disappointment and ask them to work to delete this language in the final conference bill with the House.

If your Senator voted against the Coburn Amendment, you can thank them for their support of the arts.

2. Submit articles to your local media about the importance of the nonprofit arts industry. We need as many news articles as possible this coming week to publish stories about the economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry and how the recession is negatively affecting arts groups across the country. Visit capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=12427561&type=ME to customize an opinion editorial to your local media. Easy-to-use talking points are provided.

Americans for the Arts is submitting op-eds to several national newspapers and online blogs, and enlisting high profile leaders to co-sign these letters.

3. Announce the importance of the arts. Americans for the Arts is purchasing full-page ads titled "The Arts = Jobs" in Washington's top political newspapers in Roll Call, Politico and The Hill on Monday and Tuesday of next week. We encourage you to post the ad on your social network sites. The ad can be downloaded at capwiz.com/artsusa/utr/1/OBAYJTRJJJ/FBSEJTRJJS/2889841476.

Next week, Americans for the Arts will be sending another action alert that targets the White House and the soon-to-be-named Senators and Representatives who will serve as conferees to the final economic recovery bill. Please be prepared to take action on this alert as well.