Senate stands by decision to cut some arts groups’ funding, give more to others

A controversial bill to support arts programs but that left more than a dozen without expected funds passed a near-final hurdle in the Senate on Monday.

On a 29-21 vote, the Senate approved House Bill 9, with a reminder from Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula, of the source of the funds for the programs.

“These projects are powered by coal,” said Boldman, who carried the bill in the Senate.

HB 9 appropriates $953,500 for cultural and aesthetic grants, including money for museums, at least one library, a history project, dance company and other arts groups.

Originally, around 75 groups asked for grants of $12,500 to $13,000 each, but that’s not how legislators allocated the dollars.

Earlier this session, sponsor Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, sparked criticism from people in the arts community after he suggested groups whose representatives didn’t testify at the Capitol about their programs were “slackers” and shouldn’t get funding.

“They’re running a business, and they can’t even take five minutes for a ‘give-me’ check?” Fitzpatrick, chairperson of the subcommittee, said earlier.

Some arts leaders said they didn’t know their appearance was mandatory.

Staff from the Montana Arts Council, which administers the program for the state, told lawmakers that they had mistakenly communicated to the groups that their attendance was not required, and attendance would not impact funding.

Nonetheless, legislators in the subcommittee unanimously agreed to cut funding from groups that didn’t show up in person to testify and reduce funds for groups that submitted only written testimony.

Lawmakers subsequently made only slight adjustments to the bill, and on the Senate floor Tuesday, Boldman stressed that the funding allocations are up to legislators, who are not a rubber stamp.

“It’s not a lot of money, but it’s still public money, so we do take that seriously,” Boldman said.

She said if groups didn’t appear either remotely or in person, then their applications weren’t funded, and 17 fell into that category.

However, Boldman described the funded projects as “awesome” and representing counties across Montana.

She described the process in response to a question from Sen. Jacinda Morigeau, D-Arlee, about how funding decisions were made.

Morigeau said some of her constituents had reached out to tell her the process wasn’t clear this year.

“I just wanted to stand up on their behalf and say that it is a real detriment to some of these small rural, rural, rural programs, that they weren’t funded,” Morigeau said.

However, Morigeau also said she would encourage them to apply again in two years.

Sen. Bob Phalen, R-Lindsay, wanted to know if some of the establishments that received funding were “still displaying obscenities.”

Phalen said he wasn’t referring to any specific project but to a bill he sponsored in 2023 to curb obscenity.

In response, Boldman said she wasn’t aware of any establishments showcasing obscene material.

Earlier reporting by the Daily Montanan found the applicant for one group requesting money was Fitzpatrick’s wife, and it was among those that received more money than originally proposed, and the only one to receive more than twice its original request.

Fitzpatrick, though, earlier told the Daily Montanan that he didn’t have a conflict of interest to disclose, at least not any more than he could be seen to have one with any other number of groups in his district.

On the Senate floor, Boldman said she too is connected with some of the groups, such as a children’s theater in which her son participates.

Sen. Christopher Pope, D-Bozeman, said he supported the bill, but he also didn’t want to see arts organizations stricken from the bill in the future, having seen “quality organizations being crossed off.”

However, Sen. Denley Loge, R-St. Regis, said the grants help small communities such as his, and he appreciates the idea that those who want support show up.

“It shows that they have to have a little skin in the game of time and involvement,” Loge said.

The bill earlier passed the House on a 58-39 vote, and it needs to pass another vote in the Senate.