08 HB 291/AP
House
Bill 291 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By:
Representatives Wilkinson of the
52nd,
Butler of the
18th,
Rice of the
51st,
Ashe of the
56th,
Stephens of the
164th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the Georgia Council for the Arts, so as to create the
Georgia Arts Alliance; to provide for legislative findings; to foster a
public-private partnership for support of the arts; to provide for the
membership, appointment, terms, filling of vacancies, duties, and
responsibilities of the board of trustees of the Georgia Arts Alliance; to
provide for the creation, appointment, terms, filling of vacancies, duties, and
responsibilities of an advisory committee to the alliance; to provide for
certain reports and audits; to provide for development of a cultural policy for
the State of Georgia; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
2 of Chapter 12 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to the Georgia Council for the Arts, is amended by designating the existing text
as Part 1 and inserting a new Part 2 to read as follows:
"Part
2
50-12-30.
The
General Assembly finds that:
(1)
Tourism is Georgia´s second largest industry and cultural heritage tourism
is the fastest growing industry segment;
(2)
The arts surpass professional sports in attendance and are ranked as one of the
top ten reasons for corporate relocations;
(3)
The arts preserve history and heritage for Georgians;
(4)
The arts enhance education success for our children through the teaching of
complex and abstract ideas; the nurturing of the development of cognitive,
social, and personal competencies; and the reaching of otherwise unreachable
students;
(5)
Preparing Georgia children for success in our competitive global economy that
increasingly demands creative solutions to challenging problems is a fundamental
obligation of the State of Georgia;
(6)
Utilizing all available tools to improve Georgia´s public schools is
critical to demonstrating Georgia´s strong commitment to work force
readiness and to encouraging continued job growth and relocation of attractive
knowledge based industries within Georgia;
(7)
Research studies and experience in recent years demonstrate that the presence of
arts in education, whether part of the curriculum or as supplemental programs,
can increase students´ engagement in learning as well as their social and
civic development;
(8)
Integrating arts in education in various ways as a meaningful part of the
K–12 school environment can have the following benefits:
(A)
Reaching and increasing the performance of students who often struggle to
succeed in school, including disadvantaged students, English language learners,
and students with disabilities;
(B)
Providing new challenges for those students already considered
successful;
(C)
Improving the cognitive skills of students involved in reading, language
development, and mathematics;
(D)
Lead to a student´s development of problem solving and critical and
creative thinking skills;
(E)
Motivating students to learn and become more involved in their
schools;
(F)
Increasing student attendance and engagement and lowering drop out rates;
and
(G)
Promoting student self-confidence and fostering better relationships among
students and teachers;
(9)
Public funding support for the arts and the teaching and physical infrastructure
needed to provide arts and arts in education is an essential part of
Georgia´s efforts to improve education and provide for economic development
and tourism;
(10)
Companies desire employees who can meet the challenges of a global economy and
can apply creative thought to problem solving;
(11)
The arts build communities and increase the quality of life for
Georgians;
(12)
Increasing the availability of the arts and tourism is a direct economic benefit
for the economy of Georgia and will provide jobs and opportunities for our
citizens;
(13)
It is in the best interests of this state and its citizens to support the arts,
education, economic development, and tourism; and
(14)
The success and significant advances made by the Georgia Research Alliance as a
public-private partnership in higher education demonstrates that a coordinated
public-private partnership to focus resources on critical educational objectives
is an efficient and flexible means for allocating resources and ensuring
measurable results.
50-12-31.
(a)
In order to foster a public-private partnership for the support of the arts,
education, economic development, and tourism in this state, there is created the
Georgia Arts Alliance. Such alliance shall be for the purpose of receiving and
distributing funds for the support of the arts, including the Georgia Council
for the Arts, and the teaching and physical infrastructure needed to provide
arts and arts in education in order to improve education and provide for
economic development and tourism. The Georgia Arts Alliance shall not be an
entity or agency of government, but shall be a private entity operating under
and in accordance with the laws of this state. It is the intent of the General
Assembly that such private entity take all necessary steps to become a Section
501(c)(3) entity under the Internal Revenue Code.
(b)(1)
The Georgia Arts Alliance shall be governed by a board of trustees consisting of
ten members. The members of the board shall include the State School
Superintendent, the commissioner of economic development, the Executive Director
of the Georgia Council of the Arts, and seven members appointed by the Governor,
Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House as follows: the Governor shall
appoint five members, one of which may be the head of a not for profit arts
organization with an annual budget of more than $10 million, one of which may be
the head of a not for profit organization with a budget of less than $10
million, one of which may be the chief executive officer of a for profit company
with more than 1,000 employees, one of which may be the chief executive officer
of a for profit company with less than 1,000 employees, and one of which who is
a representative of a private charitable foundation; the Lieutenant Governor
shall select one member who may be the head of a school district with more than
25,000 students; and the Speaker of the House shall select one member who may be
the head of a school district with less than 25,000 students.
(b)(2)
The Governor shall appoint one member to serve as chairperson of the board of
trustees. The board may elect such other officers as the board deems
appropriate. The board shall meet at the call of the chairperson or the request
of any three members.
(c)
The members of the board of trustees shall serve terms of four years and until
their successors are appointed and qualified; provided, however, that the
initial terms of the head of a not for profit arts organization with an annual
budget of more than $10 million, the head of a school district with more than
25,000 students, and the chief executive officer of a for profit company with
fewer than 1,000 employees in Georgia shall be for two years and until their
successors are appointed and qualified. Thereafter, such members shall serve
four-year terms and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The
members of the board shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for
actual and reasonable expenses incurred while on the business of the
alliance.
(d)
The board of trustees shall appoint an advisory committee to assist the board
members in their duties. Such advisory committee shall consist of not more than
30 members and shall be chaired by the executive director of the alliance. The
advisory committee shall include at least two representatives from each of the
state´s congressional districts. In making its appointments, the board
shall select members of the boards of arts, education, economic development, and
tourism organizations; persons who have shown a commitment to the arts in their
communities; and persons who understand the needs of business, education, and
the arts and tourism industries. Such members shall serve for four-year terms
and until their successors are selected and qualified; provided, however, that
the board of trustees shall designate 15 of the initial appointees to serve
terms of two years and until their successors are selected and qualified. Such
15 members shall thereafter serve four-year terms and until their successors are
selected and qualified. The members of the advisory committee shall serve
without compensation but may be reimbursed for actual and reasonable expenses
incurred while on the business of the advisory committee.
50-12-32.
The
Georgia Arts Alliance may have the following purposes:
(1)
To support the efforts of the Georgia Council for the Arts in the advancement of
the arts and tourism industries of this state;
(2)
To support through the arts and arts education the efforts of the Georgia
Department of Economic Development;
(3)
To support the improvement of public education in Georgia through the
integration of the arts in education and to ensure that the benefits of arts
education are competitively available to all schools;
(4)
To provide annually to individual public schools enabling matching grants for up
to three years for a specified arts program or project for students based on
competitive evaluation by the advisory board or a committee of the advisory
board of the various proposals;
(5)
To provide annually to the Georgia Council for the Arts an incremental addition
to the council´s funding from other sources to support professional
development of teachers, teaching artists, and administrators for arts in
education through learning grants to individuals; and to support employment of
an art education specialist in both the Georgia Council for the Arts and the
Department of Education;
(6)
To partner with a Learning Center for Excellence in the Arts serving all of
Georgia which is owned or operated by an organization that is exempt from
taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and which is part
of a Music Center of Excellence serving all of Georgia and has an infrastructure
in place to support at least 50,000 students in kindergarten through grade
12;
(7)
To receive, invest, and administer funds received, including without limitation
funds from the state, the federal government, private donations, grants, and
other sources to fulfill the purposes for which the alliance is
created;
(8)
To attract contributions and grants for the purposes of the
alliance;
(9)
To utilize funds of the alliance for matching dollars for federal and foundation
grants to fulfill the purposes of the alliance; and
(10)
To engage in other activities designed to support Georgia´s arts and the
teaching and physical infrastructure needed to provide arts and arts in
education in order to improve education and provide for economic development and
tourism.
50-12-33.
The
board of trustees shall have the following duties and
responsibilities:
(1)
To operate and manage the Georgia Arts Alliance, including the investment and
reinvestment of the alliance´s funds, the management of assets of the
alliance, and the distribution of such funds and assets to fulfill the purpose
of the alliance;
(2)
To enter into contracts with public and private entities for services needed by
the alliance and to fulfill the purposes of the alliance;
(3)
To employ such staff and consultants as deemed necessary to fulfill the purposes
of the alliance and to manage, invest, and administer funds and assets of the
alliance;
(4)
To receive, retain, and invest donations, state and federal funding, grants, and
other funds and assets;
(5)
To ensure that an annual independent audit is conducted of all funds and assets
of the alliance;
(6)
To apply for and administer grants from public and private entities to fulfill
the purposes of the alliance, to assist Georgia arts organizations in obtaining
and administering grants for these purposes, and to partner with other
organizations in order to obtain such grants;
(7)
To institute and administer grant programs for Georgia arts organizations and
programs to fulfill the purposes of the alliance;
(8)
To ensure that determinations of any public funding recipients shall be based
not on political expediency but rather on the project´s contribution to the
general welfare of its intended audience and the project´s demonstration of
its relative ability to provide benefits to the state and its citizens as
quantified as required by paragraph (10) of this Code section.
(9)
To promote, fund, conduct, and assist in the development, provision, and
expansion of arts education programs in Georgia and the teaching and physical
infrastructure needed to provide arts and arts in education;
(10)
To develop a measurement consistent with state or national standards that will
ensure that information provided by the alliance in any report to the Governor
and the General Assembly concerning the impact of the arts on education,
economic development, and tourism have verifiable metrics in order to aid the
General Assembly in determining whether any public money expended in support of
the arts provides quantifiable benefits to the state and its citizens;
and
(11)
To perform such other tasks as may be appropriate to fulfill its purposes not
inconsistent with law.
50-12-34.
(a)
The funds and assets of the alliance shall be independently audited annually,
and the results of such audit shall be open to inspection at reasonable times by
any person. A copy of the audit report shall be sent to the state auditor and
the state accounting officer.
(b)
The alliance shall provide the Governor and the members of the General Assembly
with a full report of its activities and funds distribution in December of each
year with recommendations, if any, for legislation to assist the alliance in
achieving its purposes. The report shall include information on the impact of
the arts on education, economic development, and tourism, specifying the metric
results using the measurement system developed by the alliance as required in
paragraph (10) of Code Section 50-12-33.
50-12-35.
The
Georgia Arts Alliance may from time to time make written recommendations to the
Governor and the General Assembly for strengthening of the arts in Georgia. The
recommendations may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1)
Strategies for promoting, both within Georgia and beyond, cultural tourism for
all areas of the state; and
(2)
Recommendations regarding the use of arts in education and instruction in arts
in the public schools."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.