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March 25, 2011 in City
Legislators seeking money for the MAC
Jake Saxon takes a fun photo of Jennifer Trent modeling a Victorian-era dress at a historical clothing exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Culture on Thursday. Supporters of the MAC also point to its educational and archival missions.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
OLYMPIA – A proposal to keep museums in Spokane and Tacoma open by tapping a savings account for a new Heritage Center in Olympia was introduced Thursday in the Washington House of Representatives.
Supported by Spokane Reps. Andy Billig, Kevin Parker and Timm Ormsby, as well as members from the Tacoma area and even Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, the plan also would create a state Department of Heritage, Arts and Culture to oversee the three facilities.
Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget proposal for the upcoming biennium includes only bare-bones funding for the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane and the State History Museum in Tacoma. It’s enough to keep the heat on so the pipes don’t freeze and provide security for the collections and minimal staff, but not have the museums open to the public.
“Rather than saving for a new museum, we’re going to save two excellent museums we already have,” Billig said Thursday. “Ideally we would do it all, but we’re not in ideal conditions.”
Billig called the MAC “much more than a museum,” saying it “hosts educational programs and community events, houses regional archives and library materials, and is the heart of the Browne’s Addition neighborhood.”
Secretary of State Sam Reed is not a fan of the proposal. “It’s like killing one institution to save two others,” he said.
Finding money for the two museums is “vitally important” but taking it from Heritage Center – which would house the state archives and state library, and have display space but not a full-blown museum – is the wrong way to do it, he said.
Reed said the state library dates to 1854 and the archives go back to territorial days. They’re housed in buildings that are old, too small and expensive to operate.
Legislators were looking for money for the Spokane and Tacoma museums in the state’s general operating budget, but that budget’s bleak outlook got worse last week with another projected drop in tax revenue. HB 2033 would take the two museums completely out of the general operating budget and tap a special fund set up for the Heritage Center from fees on public records filed with county auditors. Construction of the center is on hold because of the economic downturn, but the fees are being held in a special fund that has about $12 million.
“Legally, that may not be a problem, but politically and ethically, yes it is,” Reed said about the use of the Heritage Center fund for other facilities. The state needs to come up with a way to keep the Spokane and Tacoma museums open, he said, but “this is a terrible plan.”
Billig said the establishment of a new department would consolidate many different programs under one boss. Reed said it would create an extra layer of bureaucracy the MAC and the Tacoma museum don’t need.
A hearing on the bill is scheduled for 8 a.m. on March 31 in the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee. Spokane legislators are hoping supporters of the MAC can come to the hearing, despite the short notice and the early hour. Reed says he intends to be there.
Supermajority for taxes unconstitutional, judge rules 
CarlMcKay on March 25 at 8:59 a.m.
Why does there need to be yet another bureaucracy created to support the MAC? Keeping it open is a laudable goal, but not creating the “Dept. of Heritage, Arts and Culture.” How much do you think this will end up costing the taxpayers down the road?
philipgregory on March 25 at 9:47 a.m.
Get it from the rich.
They’re the ones who have the free time to go to museums.
Working class are the serfs of this ‘democracy’.
It belongs to them to just work, breed and die.
johnclarke on March 25 at 10:52 a.m.
That place employs like 30 plus people does it not ? I would be interested to see the salaries if anyone has that information.
Culture is great, but if I had to pick between the MAC and libraries, I pick libraries. In tough economic times, one has to make choices.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on March 25 at 11:17 a.m.
It looks like they won’t have to collect any new money for this, just use money that was already set aside for that Heritage Center. Doesn’t appear to be a choice between museums and libraries, as far as I can tell.
Hard to tell what the bureaucracy situation is: Reed says it will add more, Billig says it will consolidate (which sounds like less, but…?).
Seems like keeping these museums open is better than letting them close, and seems like taking the money out of a dormant savings account is better than taking it out of the state budget, i.e. taking it away from something else. The choice between letting these museums close or gutting a future project that doesn’t exist yet, does seem like a difficult one.
Orphan on March 25 at 11:54 a.m.
The MAC is a cool place I have enjoyed it many times. Why not find a way to rent it out for meetings, weddings, private tours etc.
Patanjali on March 25 at 12:35 p.m.
The MAC is worth saving. Cutting the sales tax exemption for private jets and cosmetic surgery would save $10,000,000 every two years, much less than the MAC budget and the MAC does bring in some income. This is not for the rich as PhilipGregory suggests. Every year elementary students take tours of the MAC as do many other groups. The admission tickets is less than the cost of any smoker’s monthly addiction or any drinker’s night on the town.
johnclarke on March 25 at 1:21 p.m.
Hey, I was just getting plastic surgery on my private jet ! Don’t make me pay tax on that !
selkirks on March 25 at 6:15 p.m.
Anyone who thinks that the Northwest MAC should not stay open either:
1. has never left the greater Spokane area, and thus thinks that having one major museum serving over one million people in Spokane’s statistical metropolitan area (includes north Idaho, eastern Washington) is “just fine” or “normal.” Hint: it’s not.
2. doesn’t care about our culture, our education, our history. The MAC has one of the largest collections of native American artifacts in the nation, for example.
3. has never visited it, and thus cannot speak of its value.
The MAC is a critical civic resource that must be preserved. A loss of this critical source of public education would have a significant long-term cultural and economic impacts.
And to whoever compared access to libraries to access to museums, the libraries are funded locally (at the city and county level). The museums are funded at least in part with state funding. So that’s really not a good comparison.
Orphan on March 25 at 6:57 p.m.
johnclark its one or the other tax on the jet or the surgery, no one plays for free.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on March 25 at 9:58 p.m.
Oh yes they do:
“General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.
The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.
Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. ”
(from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html?ref=homepage&src=me&pagewanted=all)
I know, I know, it’s not Washington. It’s just fun to read about.
spokanesausage on March 26 at 12:27 p.m.
I support the MAC, but the have not set them selves up for success.
1.) Building the MAC in a neighborhood? In most cities the museum’s are near the downtown core and within walking distance of the bulk of the hotels. This generates walking traffic and revenue.
2.) The Spokane display room is nice, but way to small. I’ve been to small county museum’s that look like they have put out a bigger effort.
3.) With all the state institutions getting cut, WSU and EWU must have materials/programs that could be combined to save them and keep them available for citizens.
4.) If they can figure out how to keep the doors open, they need a business manager(s) who understands how to open up new revenues, improve marketing and fundrasing to go along with knowing at least a little something selecting art that people want to see.
str3etart on April 05 at 2:17 a.m.
OMG!! THEY KILLED THE MAC!!!. Art, image.
http://str3etart.blogspot.com/2011/04/omg-they-killed-mac.html