ATLANTA --- Funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts would be cut but not totally eliminated in the version of next year's budget that could come up for a Senate vote today.
On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee reversed a House decision to shut down the council and move the task of doling out grants to local groups to the Department of Community Affairs.
Several hundred protesters demonstrated against the council's elimination outside the Capitol on Monday.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Hill said he and other members of the committee received a flood of e-mails from people opposed to the council's demise.
They were likely triggered by a news release the council distributed after last week's House vote in which it said Georgia would be the only state without an agency devoted specifically to the arts.
The council's absence could jeopardize $1.1 million in grants it receives from the National Endowment for the Arts and from a regional arts agency, according to council Executive Director Susan Weiner.
The House Appropriations Committee believes the semiprivate Georgia Arts Alliance, which the Legislature established in 2008, should be able to carry the load, said Rep. Barbara Sims, R-Augusta, a committee member.
"There was a misunderstanding because there will still be the ability to get local funding, and there will still be the ability to get federal matching funds," Sims said. "I don't really understand why people got so concerned."
Weiner said the Arts Alliance won't qualify for the grants.
Gov. Sonny Perdue had recommended that the Legislature cut $1.7 million from the council's $2.6 million annual appropriation. The House budget completely eliminated the council and transferred $240,000 to the Department of Community Affairs for local grants.
The Senate committee simply took Perdue's recommendation, according to Hill.
"In some ways, it may be harder to defend funding for the arts, but it's a good deal for the state," Hill said.
The Senate hasn't voted yet on its version of the budget. Hill predicted that would come today.
After that vote, a committee of senators and representatives would have to negotiate the differences in the House and Senate versions.
Sen. J.B. Powell, D-Blythe, said he supports keeping the council alive, even though he hasn't heard many requests from his constituents about it.
"There are a lot of programs out here that do a lot of good, and that's one of them," he said.
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