News -> INDReporter THU, NOV 10 11:23AM by Walter Pierce

State cuts have LEH tightening belt

LEH_belt_tighteningCiting state budget cuts in the last legislative session, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities announced this week that it has suspended its 2011-2012 grant cycle for five programs: Public Humanities, Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study, Outreach, the Louisiana Publishing Initiative and Documentary Film & Radio. The organization says its annual state appropriation is $1.5 million lower than it was four years ago.

According to LEH President Michael Sartisky, funding for the group, which in turn funds community-based cultural projects like documentary films and reading programs for at-risk children through grants, peaked at $2 million annually and created an economic impact of $14 million. Competitive grants issued by LEH peaked at more than $800,000; this year there will be none.

“The impact of these funding cuts does not fall solely on the LEH, but more importantly on the 605 organizations we have partnered with over the last 40 years, threatening the partnerships that have resulted in hundreds of festivals and exhibits benefiting thousands of our fellow citizens,” Sartisky writes in a press release announcing the suspension of the grant cycle.

Sartisky adds that LEH will tap into reserve finances to keep some critical partnerships viable during lean times. “Through cooperative agreements with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Liteary Festival, the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge and the LEH-founded Poet Laureate program, we will provide reduced but sustained funding to ensure that these organizations persevere through our present challenges,” he writes. “While fully committed to this support, our ability to reach into these reserves is limited, and vulnerable to future cuts in funding.”


Walter Pierce
About the author:


Comments (4)add
...
written by Michael Sartisky , November 10, 2011 - 10:12 pm
I appreciate this coverage of the issue and would just like to clarify that the $2 million was only the LEH's state appropriation (now slashed to $500,000). The LEH operating budget is still in excess of $3 million from other sources, but overall our agency loss is more than 30%, a loss that if not recovered will continue to damage the cultural community and economy each year it is permitted to happen.

Michael Sartisky, PhD
LEH President
...
written by RCajunrunner , November 11, 2011 - 11:15 am
Budget cuts are tough, but we are in a recession, so they are necessary. Higher Ed and healthcare have also taken some hits. What Louisiana is doing is not much different from every other state in the union right now. In fact, we are weathering the recession better than most.

And remember, we have to balance our budget. We can't, and shouldn't, operate like California.
...
written by nubbsytheone , November 11, 2011 - 01:58 pm
So what Cajunrunner suggests is that the culture of the state is not worth preserving; that a cut from $1.5 million to $500,000 within 2 years time is reasonable. It is interesting to me that in this state we can cut higher education, we can cut healthcare, we can cut the arts and humanities by millions of dollars, but let one oil rig operation be in danger of closing and suddenly we have all kinds of millions to offer a private sector business to stay open. And we wonder why our children stay ignorant and unable to compete academically on a national level- why we have a 60+ percent drop out rate- why we have the majority of highschool graduates unable to enter college without remedial classes first. Yup- we have our priorities straight right here is Louisiana!


...
written by RCajunrunner , November 11, 2011 - 03:16 pm
"but let one oil rig operation be in danger of closing and suddenly we have all kinds of millions to offer a private sector business to stay open."


If any oil company or other private business being given public tax dollars to subsidize their salaries and operations, then we should discontinue the practice.

Are there any businesses in the oil & gas industry currently receiving public tax dollars?
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in using your Facebook account or register if you do not have an account yet.

busy 
LA LA Land
Advertisement
Most Read
Advertisement
Advertisement
in case you missed it