Petition for Arts Investment as Part of Stimulus Package

Petition to make Arts part of the stimulus and cost reduction package for California. 

Revenue Generation Proposal

Proposal to Campaign for California’s Cultural Visitor: 

California Public Arts Association is comprised of hundreds of public art communities and thousands of artists all over California and the west coast.  Please join us in endorsing this proposal as part of the economic stimulus package for California.  We will send this letter to Governor Schwarzenegger after collecting signatures.

 This is a two part measure introducing:

1)    Arts cost reductions

2)    Revenue generation through a campaign for the cultural visitor

California is currently the number one travel destination in the country. Travel and tourism expenditures total $96.7 billion annually in California, support jobs for nearly 924,100 Californians and generate $5.8 billion in state and local tax revenues.

The second highest revenue generator in California is the creative industry.  TV, movies, arts and entertainment produce jobs and taxes in the arts and bolster the local economies where they exist.

We are proposing a campaign to combine these industries and capitalizing a campaign to drive traffic for the cultural visitor to California. Americans for the Arts measures the impact of arts and culture audiences to bring an additional $103 billion in ancillary spending by the cultural tourist.  The report from 2005 shows the non-local tourist spends twice what the local attendee spends. Communities that attract the cultural tourist harness significant local economic rewards. 

The culture visitor spends approximately $150-$250 pr day and stays 2-3 days longer than the average vacationer.  They eat at the local restaurant, stay at local hotels, and shop locally.  The cultural visitor is also currently creating a trend for wellness vacations in which they frequent local spas and California resorts.  

Increasing the number of cultural visitors would give California an immediate revenue increase by increasing the number of people paying the sales tax.  With the 1.5% increase proposed by the Governor, it would multiply the amount of revenue exponentially.

Four actions currently under consideration to impact California’s economy:

A)    Fast tracking construction jobs by easing building permits

B)    Fix mortgage problems by loan/foreclosure modification

C)    Create a California economy that is not based on the stock market

D)    Increase sales tax by 1.5%

We want to add one more action. Fund a campaign for the cultural tourist with 10 million dollars for an immediate source of revenue for California’s local economies.  We are asking for the following actions to reduce costs and stimulate revenue as part of the economic stimulus package:

Cost Reductions in the Arts
             Make Visas easier to obtain for cultural exchanges: Currently petitions for visas cost $1000.00 per petition and take as long as six months.  There are currently two challenges affecting the international arts community: unreasonable delays by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on foreign artists obtaining U.S. entry visas and the lack of funding for cultural exchange programs.

The total processing times for O and P arts-related visa petitions should be reduced to a maximum of 45 days by requiring USCIS to treat as a Premium Processing case (15-day turn-around), free of additional charge, any arts-related O and P visa petition that it fails to adjudicate within 30 days.

ACTION NEEDED-We urge Congress to enact the Arts Require Timely Service (ARTS) Act (H.R. 1312), which will require U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reduce the total processing times for O and P petitions filed by, or on behalf of, nonprofit arts-related organizations to a maximum of 45 days. The O category is used by individual foreign artists, and the P category is used by groups of foreign artists, reciprocal exchange programs, and culturally unique artists.

1)    Fund Cultural Exchange as a Source of Revenue in California- Increasing the sales tax will generate more tax revenue that is not dependent on the stock market.  It will drive traffic to California’s number one economic industry-tourism and increase cultural tourism.

2)      Delays and unpredictability in artist visa processing:

a.       Deny the American public the opportunity to experience international artistry. Performances and other cultural events are date-, time-, and location-specific. The nature of scheduling, booking, and confirming highly sought-after guest soloists and performing groups requires that the timing of the visa process be efficient and reliable.

b.      Cost American artists important employment opportunities. If an international guest artist cannot obtain a visa in time to make a scheduled performance, then the many American artists who were scheduled to work along side the guest artist may lose a valuable and much-needed source of income and exposure.

c.       Create high economic risks for nonprofit arts institutions and the local economies they support. Nonprofit arts groups must sell tickets in advance, creating a financial obligation to their audiences. Regular visa processing now takes too long for arts organizations to accommodate, directly impacting their bottom line.

In both 2006 and 2007, the Senate approved the above provision as part of their Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act bills. Congress must now commit to passage of the artist visa provision. On November 7, 2007 the House Judiciary Committee approved H.R.1312, the Arts Require Timely Service (ARTS) Act, introduced by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) and co-sponsored by ten other bipartisan congressional leaders. A companion bill, S. 2178, has been introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

Numerous members of Congress, including members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, have already gone on record urging USCIS to improve the visa process for foreign guest artists. The following members of the Senate and House are leading congressional efforts to improve the artist visa process:  Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Kerry (D-MA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); and Representatives John Conyers (D-MI), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Howard Berman (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Lamar Smith (R-TX), James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Howard Coble (R-NC), Dan Lungren (R-CA), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

• International cultural exchange carries an economic benefit.
• According to a report by the National Governors Association, How States Are Using Arts and Culture to Strengthen Their Global Trade Development, state governments find that incorporating arts and cultural exchanges in their international trade and business development serves to expand trading relationships with other nations and open markets abroad as a complement to more traditional efforts to generate exports.
• For mayors, cultural exchange carries a significant economic benefit. The U.S. Conference of Mayors 10-point plan for 2008, Strong Cities, Strong Families, for a Strong America, calls for “the creation of a Cabinet level Secretary of Culture and Tourism charged with forming a national policy for arts, culture, and tourism.”

3)     Go Green—Replace requirements for reams of paper and CD's for all RFQ/RFP's in the cities, counties and state.  Convert artist outreach on line where they can upload images, resumes, and respond to RFQ/RFP’s. It will save approximately 10,000 pieces of paper per RFQ, plus cost of postage, and labor.  Save the communities, cities and counties the cost of doing this paperwork.  Streamline the process on line as banks, hospitals, and California’s court system are doing.  This will save the state millions of dollars in labor hours, postage and time.  Examples of two services currently providing electronic recruiting of artists for projects:

http://www.calpaa.com/

http://www.cafe.org/

Or:

Reference the statewide Internet-based Employment Recruitment Software Solution Program for identical requirements in the court electronic recruiting system:

RFP Number: HR-1008-BD

4)    Revenue Generation-- Fund the arts with 10 million dollars for an immediate payback in jobs, not only in the arts, but in the ancillary businesses such as restaurants, shops, hotels and spa’s.  The cultural tourist stays longer, eats in the local restaurants and hotels, shops locally and, with the emphasis on wellness vacations, uses the local spa and resorts.

Four solutions cited in the new economic stimulus package:

E)    Fast tracking construction jobs by easing building permits

F)    Fix mortgage problems by loan/foreclosure modification

G)    Create a California economy that is not based on the stock market

H)    Increase sales tax by 1.5%

The first three will not realize immediate revenue due to the restructuring and infrastructure changes required before it will affect the economy.   However, tourism is already number one in the economy.  The creative industry is the number two industry.  There would be no infrastructure or restructuring required to combine these two industries to realize immediate gains from targeting the cultural tourist.  

A 1.5% sales tax increase will be paid by Californians as soon as it goes into effect.  However, it could be increased exponentially by increasing the visitors to California.  The non-local visitor spends twice as much at the local cultural event, stays longer and will bring more business to the restaurants and shops than Californians.

This is much shorter pipeline for revenue generation than the mortgage, construction or auto business that is currently receiving huge infusions of money for re-tooling.  Unfortunately gains from these measures won’t be realized for two to three years.  The arts will produce, as it always has for California, a steady revenue stream that produces sales tax, bed tax and creates jobs while supporting small local businesses immediately.  Local government and local business receive immediate gains.  The state's 1.5% sales tax will generate faster revenues as the tourists pay the sales tax as part of their visit to California. This doesn’t require restructuring or special infrastructure and is not affected by the stock market.

5)     Campaign for Cultural Visitor-

Drive California's number one industry higher by campaigning for the cultural visitor.  Gas prices are lower so Americans can drive or fly to California.  Attract the cultural tourist by funding the arts. It does not require new infrastructure, as alternative energy or the auto industry do, nor does it require a great deal of money.  The real estate, construction and banking industry need to be overhauled.  The impact of rectifying these industries won’t be felt for years.

6)    Immediate Revenue- The arts bring immediate tax dollars, jobs, and business to California. Increase the funding by ten million dollars to:

A)    Restore and create public arts,

B)    Streamline artist outreach processes,

C)    Extend our international reach,

D)    Campaign for the cultural tourist

We will get an immediate return on investment in sales tax, local tax, and business revenues in restaurants, hotels, and shops.  It is a proven formula.  We do not need to retool our economy.  Capitalize arts with ten million dollars so it can pay us back in billions with better urban design, cultural tourism and an economy that is not dependent on the stock market.  Please join me by growing our economy through the arts as part of the economic stimulus package for California.