Brazen Tactics

2009 is shaping up to be one of those years at the Minnesota Legislature, and at legislatures across the country, as well. Most states are predicting massive deficits (I said most,) and since, unlike the federal government, states aren't allowed to run deficits, taxes have either got to be raised, or important programs have to be cut. And guess which option tends to be more politically palatable to your elected representatives?

Yeah, you got that right. Raising taxes in the midst of a deep recession might be an economically sound move, but no way is the Distinguished Gentleman From Lyon County (or wherever) gonna have that particular vote on his record when the 2010 elections roll around. (And truth be told, since the stock market tanked, I haven't seen many of those Happy To Pay For A Better Minnesota yard signs that were so popular with Twin Cities liberals a few years back.) So stuff is gonna get cut. Lots of stuff. To the bone. And that means that, over the next several months, we can more or less expect interest group after interest group to truck out to the Capitol, hats in hand, begging for the cuts to be less severe than they're expecting.

The arts are always one of the first things to get slashed in this sort of environment, mainly because it's all too easy for grandstanding politicians to imply (implicitly or explicitly) that only rich robber barons care about the symphony or the thea-tah, and that cutting them is actually a boon to ordinary, hard-working Americans who like monster truck rallies and apple pie. (Never mind that it's the musicians and actors working in the symphonies and theaters of America who have largely rallied to provide low-cost or no-cost educational options to kids whose schools have had all their funding for such things yanked by the very same politicians who now want to step on the throat of the arts.)

Making things worse this year is the fact that Minnesotans just voted fairly overwhelmingly to pass the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, which, while controversial, demonstrated pretty dramatically that the residents of this state continue to place a very high value on the things that separate us from, say, Delaware - wide open spaces, beautiful lakes and rivers, and cultural offerings far out of proportion to our size as a populace. Trouble is, this statement by voters isn't being seen by those at the Lege as a sign of where their constituents' priorities lie. No, it's being taken as a slap in the face, a repudiation of the legislative branch as the holder of the governmental pursestrings, and most ominously, a clear guide to what programs they ought to cut first.

Yup, that's the logic at work over in certain corners of the Capitol. Because the residents of the state just voted in huge numbers to fund the arts, the outdoors, and the environment whether the Lege has the guts to agree or not, a number of legislators are now openly proclaiming that every existing program focusing on one of those three areas that they still have control over ought to be axed, or at least severely cut back. Never mind that the new funding wasn't meant to replace existing funds, but to supplement them - it's all about political expediency, and the noise machine that is talk radio and the blogosphere should provide just enough political cover to prevent there from being any real consequences for defying the fairly obvious will of the electorate.

Interestingly, one legislator says that there might be a way to prevent the seemingly inevitable slashing and burning of the nonprofit sector that's likely to be on the way in the 2009 session: just demand more than you got last year, and do it with a straight face...

"Did the Wall Street lobbyists stop lobbying for the $700 billion bailout? Did the auto industry people stop lobbying and say, 'Oh please, don't cut us!'... You have to have the confidence to do what the big players do—which is ask for more."

It's a brilliant strategy when you think about it, and it'll be interesting to see whether any of Minnesota's non-profit leaders have the gall to actually try it. I suspect that, for it to work, it would take a coalition of many groups all working in concert, and even then, the Lege might simply shrug and cut away. But it's a better idea than any other I've heard lately, and in this year, in this state, it strikes me that our actions, or lack thereof, could go a long way towards determining whether Minnesota continues to sport one of the highest qualities of life in America, or decides that good enough is just gonna have to be good enough, which I believe is the state motto of Nebraska. What was that about a cold Omaha...?

(Disclaimers and disclosures: the Minnesota Orchestral Association contributed $15,000 towards statewide lobbying efforts to pass the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, although no one in the MOA ever asked me what I thought about it. Secondly, contrary to popular perception, the Minnesota Orchestra is not funded by the government, but by individual and corporate donors as well as by funds drawn from our various endowments, all of which were built with private money. It is my understanding that the orchestra could wind up receiving funds from the proceeds raised by the new amendment, but where that money will go, and in what amounts, has not yet been officially determined. Finally, as stated in our Blog Policies, the views expressed in this and all other posts are not necessarily those of the MOA, its staff, or 97 of the 98 musicians of the orchestra.)