Arts for LA announces its endorsement of three pieces of legislation, all supporting access to arts and arts education, appearing on the November ballot in Los Angeles County. Each endorsement is supported by the Arts & Culture Framework of Los Angeles County, which serves as the region’s guide to greater support for arts, culture, and arts education.

Proposition 30, known formally as the Schools & Local Public Safely Protection Act and informally as the Brown Tax Initiative, will provide billions of dollars to California’s strapped school districts, providing more consistent resources for arts education throughout the state.  It would write public safety funding into the state constitution, making it more difficult for the state legislature to change it.  If Prop 30 is not passed, drastic trigger cuts will go into effect throughout the state budget. It will be funded by a tax increase on California’s top earners and a quarter-cent tax increase effective for the next four years. Click here to visit Yes on Prop 30's website.

Proposition 38, known unofficially as “Our Children, Our Future,” will create an education trust fund to increase per-pupil funding for every school throughout the state. According to the potential legislation, the funds could not be used by the state government and can only fund schools. By raising revenues of approximately $10 billion, Prop 38 could contribute to ongoing arts education for every student in California. Funded by a sliding-scale tax increase from 4/10 of 1% to 2.2% on the top earners, the new law would ask all Californians to contribute to the future of the state by ensuring quality education for all students. Click here to visit Yes on 38's website.

Measure J will afford more Los Angeles County residents—including students—the opportunity to participate more fully in the region’s arts and culture offerings by funding an acceleration of Metro’s expansion under Measure R. Rather than reaching completion in thirty years, the new and better-linked lines would be completed in only ten years.  The “jumpstart” would be funded by a thirty-year extension of the existing half-cent sales tax funding Metro’s projects. For more information on Measure J, visit Move LA's website.

Arts for LA determines its endorsements based on the Arts & Culture Framework for Los Angeles County, a document outlining opportunities and concerns for arts, culture, and arts education in our region.  Crafted collaboratively with over 150 arts organizations, business leaders, philanthropists, community activists, and education experts, it places advocacy priorities into three overarching areas: arts education, cultural/creative economy, and civic engagement. Potential endorsements are also examined by the Policy Committee of Arts for LA’s board of directors to ensure propositions and measures are fully aligned with the priorities determined by the Arts & Culture Policy Framework.

Prop 30 and Prop 38 receive endorsements because they are directly in line with the Arts & Culture Policy Framework’s directive to “endorse legislation and policies that increase revenue for schools.”  School district budgets throughout Los Angeles County have faced traumatic cuts since 2008, many of which have reduced or eliminated arts education for some students.  New revenue streams provided by either of these plans will help districts retain and expand arts education over the next four to eight years.  Arts for LA, like the California Alliance for Arts Education, encourages voters to vote for both propositions in order to ensure California schools receive the revenue they so desperately need.

Measure J’s expansion of the existing mass transportation system will allow more residents of Los Angeles County to experience the region’s diverse arts and culture offerings by moving audiences, quickly and affordably, from their homes to cultural centers.  Measure J is directly in line with the Arts & Culture Policy Framework’s civic engagement directive to “support policies that facilitate increased access to arts and culture experiences” and its cultural/creative economy directive to “encourage cultural tourism reflective of the region’s diversity of populations, communities, and art forms.”

The Arts & Culture Policy Framework for Los Angles County will be officially released in September 2012 and will be accessible to all on the Arts for LA website at artsforla.org. A draft of the document has been posted to the Arts for LA website at http://www.artsforla.org/sites/default/files/2013-15%20framework%20draft....

Photo credit: I Voted by Ryan Greenberg, on Flickr