NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A526
SPONSOR: Carroll
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the arts and cultural affairs law, in relation to the
establishment of regional arts, cultural affairs, and parks accessibil-
ity and sustainability grants
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To establish 10 regional councils that will administer competitive
accessibility and sustainability grants for regional arts, cultural
institutions and parks.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the arts and cultural affairs law by adding a new arti-
cle 6.
6.01 - Defines Regions, Regional Councils, Accessibility and Sustaina-
bility Programs.
6.03 - Establishes the 10 Regions in New York State.
6.05 - The Governor establishes a regional council in each region made
up of local experts and stakeholders from arts, cultural and parks
organizations within region. The Governor shall appoint 5 members and
the Assembly and Senate shall appoint one member in each region. One
member of each regional council shall be an expert in accessibility, and
one member an expert in sustainability.
6.05 (2) The Regional Councils with approval of Governor issue compet-
itive accessibility and sustainability grants to arts, cultural and
parks organizations within their region for capital projects
6.05 (2) (a) In the City Of New York region an equal amount of grant
money is issued to organizations with operating budgets of ten million
dollars or more as is issued to organizations with operating budgets of
less than ten million dollars.
6.05 (2) (b) In all other regions an equal amount of grant money is
issued to organizations with operating budgets of five million dollars
or more as is issued to organizations with operating budgets of less
than five million dollars.
6.05 (3) Regional Councils will determine which organizations receive A
competitive accessibility or sustainability grant based on Governor's
criteria
6.05 (4) Organizations may only receive an accessibility and sustaina-
bility grant under this article once every three years.
6.05 (5) No regional council shall issue accessibility and sustainabili-
ty grants totaling more than fifty percent of such council's grant money
issued in a calendar year to parks organizations.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The arts are an integral driver of the state's economy and serve as
critical assets to communities. Data released in 2018 by the NEA and BEA
shows that the arts and cultural sector generate over $114 billion to
the New York State Economy and employ over 450,000 people across the
state. Additionally, the total number of onsite visits to NYSCA grantee
organizations in 2018 stood at over 171 million, with cultural tourists
estimated at over 53 million, 30 million of which are museum guests.
Many of these cultural institutions rely on old infrastructure which
predate accessibility requirements and are energy inefficient. They are
badly in need of improvements and retrofitting to improve accessibility
and efficiency. The capital costs associated with these improvements are
often beyond the means of these institutions. Given the large number of
people employed and served by our cultural spaces, arts institutions,
and parks, the return on investment in regards to sustainability will
have significant impact to our state's overall energy footprint The much
needed accessibility improvements will greatly benefit seniors and
differently abled people making use of museums, 'and art and recreation-
al spaces, allowing greater access to our cultural treasures for both
citizens and tourists, enhancing appreciation for the arts, improving
educational participation, and providing associated economic benefits.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.515 of 2021-2022
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.