History of Success – 30 Years!
In 1977 members of the arts community founded the organizations to “provide service and advocacy to all the arts, with emphasis on quality and accessibility to all citizens.” By joining together through the Alliance, the Washington arts community has over the years worked to ensure an arts friendly Legislature and to preserve and expand funding sources for the arts statewide. In addition to direct funding, successes have included securing:
- Exemptions to property tax and leasehold excise tax, for non-profit arts and cultural organizations
- Exemptions to certain sales taxes for non-profit arts organizations
- Elimination of state B&O tax for all non-profit arts activity
- Exemption from Seattle business tax emption for benefits
- Availability of tax-exempt financing for nonprofits undertaking capital projects.
- Liquor license classifications for nonprofit cultural organizations
- Establishment of the Percent for Arts Program both statewide and at the local level
- Addition or arts industry as eligible recipients of monies from local Hotel/Motel taxes ( King County and Statewide)
- Redefinition of legislation which impacts charitable and telephone solicitation
- Insertion of arts as core subjects in the education reform of 1992
- Flexibility for nonprofit cultural organizations when renting out their tax-exempt property.
- Redefinition of liquor laws so that nonprofit organizations could continue to serve alcohol at events ‘open to the public’
- Ability for cultural organizations to put expiration date of gift certificates and retain the unused portion, rather than turn the funds over to state as previously required
- Exemption from payroll taxes for smaller arts organizations who wish to provide stipends to persons involved in performances
- Revision of state law so that hotel and motel taxes can continue to be used to fund artistic organizations statewide (AG ruling necessitated new language)
- Creation of a poet laureate in Washington State
- Extension of PFD legislation for the benefit of small communities
Over the years the Washington State Arts Alliance has also had to be reactive and work collectively and collaboratively with other entities to ensure a healthy environment for arts and culture and legislative preserve advances by defeating legislation that would have:
- Eliminated the State Arts Commission and/or drastically reduce its funding
- Repealed the percent for art provisions
- Inhibited artistic freedom through censorship
- Removed the arts, social studies and health and fitness as content areas for which schools must be accountable for
- Removed arts and cultural organizations from eligibility for lodging tax funding
- Eliminated of the state film office
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