Arts attack

To the editor:

How the Kansas Arts Commission was bumped off.

  1. Gov. Brownback orders that the Kansas Arts Commission be abolished citing budget savings.

  2. His claim is refuted by legislators and arts professionals who demonstrate that the state would actually lose income and jobs if the Arts Commission is eliminated.

  3. In letters, emails and rallies in Topeka, thousands of Kansans express their support for the Arts Commission and plead with legislators to retain the KAC as a state agency.

  4. The Senate overturns the governor’s order on a 24-13 bipartisan vote.

  5. During budget negotiations, the Senate and the House agree to approve funding of the Arts Commission at $689,000 for 2012.

  6. Without comment or consultation with the Legislature, the governor “lays off” the entire Arts Commission staff, pre-emptively killing the agency before the budget is presented to him.

Whether or not the governor has the authority to take such action, Mr. Brownback’s singularly dictatorial tactic dishonors the work of our state legislators who must now question the purpose of the votes they cast at the Capitol.