The cultural centerpiece of the Governor's budget is the creation of a new cultural super agency, "the Connecticut Commission on Arts, Culture and Tourism," created by merging the Connecticut Historical Commission, the Connecticut Film Commission and the Tourism Division of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development with the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. This new entity will now determine the state's cultural funding. (Descriptions of the proposed powers and programs of the new agency can be found at www.cga.state.ct.us. Bill title is House 6548. Relevant section is 163.) As presently constituted and envisioned the new Commission has no specific heritage granting program or, indeed, does it mention heritage support anywhere in its organizing language other than acknowledging the current historic preservation responsibilities of the Historical Commission. Driving the granting agenda seems to be the current mission statement and program priorities of the Arts Commission.

Swept from the state budget IN THEIR ENTIRETY are the following heritage support programs:

1. The Connecticut Humanities Council's $1 million Cultural Heritage Development Fund.
2. The CHC's $75,000 granting collaboration with the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation for local preservation initiatives.
3. The CHC's $100,000 heritage granting collaboration with the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
4. The Historical Commission's $600,000 Historic Restoration Fund.
5. The Historical Commission's Old Newgate Prison, Prudence Crandall Museum, Henry Whitfield State Museum, and the Sloane-Stanley Museum.
6. The Historic Restoration tax credit program.

Also eliminated are all eleven of the state's tourism districts which often provide local marketing assistance for our programs.

All in all, not a good way to start the session.... In essence the entire state support structure for our work in all its forms has potentially disappeared, and with it the notion that heritage has its own identity, legitimacy and importance in the state's cultural policies.

This, of course, simply cannot stand.

What to do? In the short run, just seethe... Heritage Coalition members will be meeting on Friday with our lobbyists and legislative allies to see what sort of counter proposals make best political sense in this utterly chaotic political climate and to map out a strategy to achieve them. It's very difficult at this early stage to determine which of the Governor's many sweeping proposals are trial balloons and which are deep commitments on his part, or which have political legs in the legislature and which will quickly die upon arrival. We'll have a better sense of where we stand and what to do at the end of the week and will report back. If you haven't done so already, a quick tour of the advocacy resources available on the Coalition's website
(www.ctculture.org\chdf) would be a good preparation for the campaign ahead.

All this is indeed discouraging, but do remember that the Governor's budget is simply the opening gun of the budget debate. We have the whole session ahead of us to address these issues successfully, a fully mobilized statewide Heritage Coalition to steer the process, considerable legislative support in place already due to your hard work, and a remarkably large and committed grassroots network of heritage advocates ready to help in the struggle. As Yogi reminds us, "It ain't over 'till it's over" and we've just begun.