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Tuesday, June 25th | Important Call to Action | Artists Bills Testimony

June 24, 2019

On Tuesday, June 25th at 11am, the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development  will be holding a public hearing at the State House in Room B-2. Slated for the agenda are several very important bills that will substantially benefit artists of all disciplines.

Your support is welcome and much needed!

For more information about the hearing and a complete listing of the legislation that Joint Committee requests testimony for:
https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/3195

Members of the MALC Steering Committee will be testifying on several bills at the hearing. Scroll down to see the bills MALC will be testifying in support of.

Members of the general public are encouraged to attend and testify at the hearing and to send in written testimony to the Joint Committee.  If you wish to testify in person on the 25th, it is recommended that you arrive by 10:45am to sign up to testify.

If you wish to send in written testimony, please email your testimony to both Garrett.Burns@mahouse.gov and to Phillip.Geoffroy@masenate.gov.

It is recommended that you format your written testimony as follows:

Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development
Room 171 & 405
Massachusetts State House
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Chairperson Senator Kennedy, Chairperson Representative McMurtry, and Members of the Joint Committee,

List the bills you are in favor of/supporting and in your own words as to why you are supporting the legislation.

Your name
Your artistic discipline/organization
Your address and contact information

————————————————–

MALC is testifying in support of the legislation listed below:

Emergency Aid Fund for Artists

H.2942 An Act establishing the Representative Chris Walsh disaster and emergency aid fund for Massachusetts artists, filed by Rep. Mary Keefe & its counterpart in the Senate, S.2020, filed by Senator Nick Collins.

MALC is in strong support of H.2942 & S.2020 An Act Establishing the Representative Chris Walsh Disaster and Emergency Aid Fund for Massachusetts Artists. This legislation, if passed, would allow for the State Treasurer’s Office to establish a specific state fund for Disaster/Emergency Aid for Massachusetts Artists working in all disciplines. The fund is named in the memory of the late State Representative Chris Walsh. Rep Chris Walsh was a strong supporter and sponsor of this legislation for several of the past legislative sessions. This fund will be used to help artists who have had a health care emergency (i.e. could not pay their medical bills or medical insurance) as well as to help those artists who suffered other types of emergencies (fires, floods, theft). The funds would be generated by the private sector. No funds would be taken out of existing state funds or the state budget. It is a revenue neutral bill.

Workforce Development- Supporting Artists, Public Art, and Artist in Residence Programs

H.2931 An Act relative to procurement services for artists, filed by Rep. David Biele& its counterpart in the Senate,S.2029,filed by Senator James T. Welch.

MALC is in full support of these two bills. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Public Procurement Act, Chapter 30B, has precise language on the process for the procurement of supplies, services or real property by a governmental body. While this is an important check and balance for most of the purchases made by state and municipal agencies, it does not make sense for many things and Section 1 of 30B contains over thirty exceptions- including for architects and photographers. The procurement of public art or other artistic services (such as an artist-in-residence program) by municipal agencies should be one of these exceptions. Many states have already added similar exceptions.*

* AK, Delaware, FL, GA, ID, IL, KY, NJ, NM, NC, PA, RI, SC, and SD

H.2941 An Act to establish a Massachusetts percent for the arts program, filed by Rep. Mary Keefe & its counterpart in the Senate,S.2022, filed by Senator Eric P. Lesser.

MALC is in full support of these two bills. The Commonwealth needs a percent for art program. The structure of the program is well thought out and has both a public art commission and a paid coordinator of the program. MALC is especially pleased with two aspects of the legislation (items “e“ & “f”) that support Massachusetts artists by giving them preference while protecting artists’ intellectual property rights.

Protecting Native American Heritage

H.2948 An Act to Protect Native American Heritage, filed by Rep. Dave Rogers & its counterpart in the Senate, S.1811, filed by Senator Nick Collins.

This legislation protects Native American funerary objects, human remains, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony from being sold in the Commonwealth by governmental agencies/municipalities and nonprofits.  On a federal level, this issue is addressed by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA). However, these laws do not cover those entities that are not federal agencies or those entities that do not receive federal funding.

We hope to see you and, if you can’t attend, we thank you for your written testimony!

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