How it is supposed to work
- Early August: The Budget Director sends a letter to state agencies outlining the Governor's budget priorities.
- Late August: Agencies submit their budget needs and wishes to the division of the budget in compliance with the Governor's priorities.
- September to early December: The division of the Budget conducts formal budget hearings when agency heads can discuss their requests with the Governor's office.
- December: The Division of the Budget transforms agency requests into preliminary budget and personnel recommendations.
- Mid-January: The Governor submits his Executive Budget to the Legislature
- February to March: Legislative fiscal committees analyze spending proposals and revenue estimates. After conducting budget committee hearings in the Senate and the Assembly, the process moves to conference committees between the State and the Assembly. The budget is passed and executed at the start at the following fiscal year, which begins on April 1st.
The state budget has not been passed by April 1 since 1985. Disagreement between the Assembly, Senate and Governor as to the size of revenues the state may expect, as well as differing political priorities, are the more obvious reasons. As a result, even the establishment of the conference committees has been delayed and the budget essentially remains in limbo for months. -- ofen being passed in late summer. Many state agencies, among them the New York State Council on the Arts, are unable to spend money beyond the nominal essentials during the delay.
The main funding agency through which arts groups receive state funds is the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). NYSCA was established in 1960 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller and the State Legislature as a temporary state commission and became a permanent agency in 1965. It was the first agency of its kind in the nation, predating the National Endowment for the Arts and other state arts agencies in its support of artists and arts organizations through public funds.
For Fiscal Year 2001, NYSCA received $53.3 million. The Governor’s initial budget proposed $48.4 million for the agency, representing a cut of $1.8 million from the previous year’s funding. After Arts Day in Albany, when the New York City Arts Coalition sent 14 teams of arts advocates to visit numerous state legislators and explain the economic and cultural benefits of arts funding to the state, the budget cut was restored and a $3.2 million increase was allocated.
