Almost halfway through the 2024 legislative session, at least four culture and arts-related bills are still alive.
But one measure has alarmed Hawaii artists who are fighting the Legislature’s attempt to cut arts programs.
The proposed House bill would dramatically change how the state arts agency receives funding from the “percentage for the arts” law.
Hawaii was the first US state to pass a law in 1967 requiring 1% of the cost of construction or renovation of state buildings to go to the State Endowment for Culture and the Arts, which operates the public museum.
The potential changes to the law would be “a massive cut to arts funding,” according to executive director Karen Ewald.
“If that happens, we’re going to have to respond accordingly by cutting some programs because we’re just not going to have the money anymore,” she said.
Meanwhile, other proposals would provide additional funding for the state foundation. House Bill 1939 would direct the arts agency to create a recovery program for people affected by the Maui wildfire. House Bill 1940 would set aside money from a special fund for the SFCA to integrate artwork into capital improvement projects.
On the Senate side, a bill would transfer the SFCA from the Department of Accounting and General Services, which is the administrative support for the arts agency, to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
The measures have been postponed for a full vote on Tuesday.
Possible layoffs and changes at the arts agency
The state foundation receives an average of $3.1 million from the “percentage for art” law, which goes into its special “works of art” fund. The money is used to support artists across the country through its programs, acquire artwork from local artists and support the Capitol Modern Public Museum.
House Bill 1807, introduced by Representative Kyle Yamashita, passed some amendments in the House.
The version introduced would have excluded the renovations from the law, but was amended in the culture, arts and international affairs committee. The change put railings on the measure, which would have excluded 1% of the amount for certain types of construction work such as roads, bridges, landscaping, sports fields and more.
However, the measure was amended back to its original language when it passed the House Finance Committee.
The committee chaired by Yamashita also included additional changes to the measure that would allocate funds to performing arts and other school initiatives, though it’s unclear how much that would cost.
Yamashita could not be reached for an interview, but had told HPR: “Right now, the money is needed elsewhere. For example, the state currently has over $1 billion in repairs and maintenance backlogs at facilities across the state. This change may not solve the backlog, but we must do everything we can to prioritize our spending on the most critical needs.”
Ewald said 68 percent of his special fund comes from renovating state buildings.
“The law that was passed in 1967, during that time there was a huge building boom. It’s gone now,” she said. “So a large amount of our funds that we receive with a special fund to support visual artists to support the modern museum capital to support performers and arts education will be affected.”
Senate Bill 2764 originally would have eliminated the state foundation commission, but was amended to move the arts agency and the King Kamehameha Commemoration Commission from DAGS to DBEDT. The measure would also require the governor to select the SFCA’s executive director with the advice and consent of the Senate, according to the latest version of the bill.
Ewald said the version of the bill as presented would affect the state foundation’s federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. She added that she supports the latest draft of the bill if it does not affect SFCA funding.
“Moving agencies into other departments is serious,” she said. “This is not something to be taken lightly. I think there needs to be a lot more talk about the benefits we would get if that happened.”
The measure drew a rally last month by more than a dozen local artists. An artist had told HPR that this was the first time he had seen artists protesting in the state legislature.
The bills are due March 7 and are likely to be heard by the Senate Transportation and Culture Committee, chaired by Sen. Chris Lee, and the House Committee on Culture, Arts and International Affairs, chaired by Rep. Adrian Tam.
