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July 2, 2009
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No money for culture In the state’s recently approved $11.5 billion budget, the Department of Cultural Resources will be hit hard. Gov. John Lynch’s budget proposal in February initially slashed a big chunk of the department’s budget. By the time the budget got through the Senate, another $300,000 had been cut, said Senate Majority Leader Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter. “It’s pretty significant cuts to a small department,” Hassan said. All in all, legislators cut the department’s budget by 18 percent. The department operates on a $7.7 million budget, split about 50-50 between state and federal funding, said Van McLeod, commissioner of the Department of Cultural Resources. “The reductions are obviously substantial in our department,” McLeod said. Hassan said the department would have to lose some staff to accommodate the reductions, but legislators kept enough intact to allow the department to continue to receive federal grants. “They actually leverage quite a bit of federal money into our state,” Hassan said. “It’s important to maintain grants.” McLeod said the arts would be hurt most by cuts, though historical resources and the state library were also hit. “We have been trying to move things around so we can collect as much federal money as we possibly can through the National Endowment for the Arts...,” McLeod said. “It’s still a work in progress. I’m still concerned of what the future is going to be and hopefully everything will get better as we move forward.” “Obviously, it’s difficult times for everybody,” McLeod added. McLeod has had to lay off four full-time employees, and another four vacant positions were not filled. McLeod’s department did receive a little stimulus money to help keep a full-time staffer from going part-time, he said. “We’re doing everything we can to make it have as [little] impact as possible,” McLeod said. “It will have an effect, as will everywhere else in the state.” “Cultural institutions throughout the state are part of the quality of life and our community well-being,” McLeod said, noting that his department touches every community in the state. “Our job is to try to support them.... The state is resilient. It always has been resilient. This just happens to be one of the most difficult times.” The state Department of Cultural Resources includes the State Council on the Arts, the Film and Television Office, the State Library, the American Canadian French Cultural Exchange Commission and the Division of Historical Resources. Visit www.nh.gov/nhculture.
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