Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 3, 1994 TAG: 9403040028
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The House bill contains more than $3.5 million for Roanoke-based museums, arts and culture programs, and special projects - more funds for this type of non-state-agency activity than were approved for any other single community.
Under the House budget, the Thomas-Woodrum-Cranwell troika would secure:
$1 million for the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center; $800,000 for Explore Park (state-owned, but not a regular recipient of operating appropriations); $642,044 for the Science Museum of Western Virginia; $400,000 for the Virginia Transportation Museum; $97,000 for the Mill Mountain Zoo; $170,000 for the Arts Museum of Western Virginia; $376,170 for Center in the Square; $150,000 for the Volunteer Rescue Squad Museum; and $75,000 for the Virginia State Games, sponsored by Roanoke Amateur Sports.
That's "would secure," not "has secured." Appropriations for them are on the negotiating table as House and Senate conferees resolve differences in the separate 1994-96 spending plans approved by the two chambers. The Senate budget bill actually includes more for a couple of Roanoke projects: $1.6 million for the Hotel Roanoke center and $1 million for Explore. But it includes lesser amounts or nothing for other Roanoke-based programs for whose funding Thomas, Woodrum and Cranwell won House approval.
Chances are excellent, however, that Roanoke's array of arts and cultural institutions will at the least fare considerably better in the next biennium than in recent years.
In part, this is because the legislature is coming to recognize that such programs are not mere frills. They are important community resources for developing tourism, recruiting new businesses and jobs, and educating Virginia's citizens.
And to speak plainly, it is also in part a reflection of legislators' skills, experience and standing with their colleagues. Traditionally, lawmakers who are part of the assembly's power establishment have more success in getting money for local projects than backbenchers.
That's all fine and dandy for Roanoke - as long as it has veteran legislators and power players like Thomas, Woodrum and Cranwell. But the arts and cultural facilities of the Roanoke Valley - for that matter, in the state as a whole - should not have to depend each year for state assistance on their legislators' ability to finagle funding favors.
The Thomas-Woodrum-Cranwell trio may be around for a long time, but nobody's in the assembly forever. Arts and cultural organizations face funding uncertainties enough as it is; whether in the Roanoke Valley or elsewhere, they don't need the additional variable of whether the legislators from their home communities are savvy seniors or foolish freshmen.
Which is all the more reason why the arts community throughout Virginia should appreciate Thomas' efforts on their behalf.
He has been pushing hard to put state funding for hundreds of art, history, science and children's museums and cultural centers on a more rational, systematic and steadfast basis. He and a few other lawmakers are urging the General Assembly to develop specific funding criteria to ensure more equitable treatment for all of Virginia's community-based arts programs. This is a fair and sensible step that should have been taken years ago.
Thomas, Woodrum and Cranwell deserve a pat on the back for their skill and work at winning money for arts and cultural programs in the Roanoke Valley. But state support for programs so significant to the quality of living in Virginia shouldn't depend on the talents of individual legislators. It should simply be there, on a consistent and regular basis.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
by CNB