With the help of some additional funding approved by a legislative conference committee, a plan to establish a new Creative Industries Commission to support arts and film endeavors in Kansas now seems like a reasonable compromise for the state.

Last year, Gov. Sam Brownback used his line-item veto to eliminate all funding for the Kansas Arts Commission. This year, he decided to revisit that funding issue and proposed the new commission, which would replace the Arts Commission and the Kansas Film Commission and would be part of the Kansas Department of Commerce. Brownback’s budget included $200,000 to fund the new commission, but, to many, that amount seemed a bit skimpy, considering that the Film Commission had received $110,000 for the current year.

A House-Senate budget conference committee apparently agreed with that view and decided to add another $500,000 to the new commission’s budget. If approved by the Legislature and the governor, that amount would give the new commission a better chance of restoring the functions of the Arts Commission and again qualifying the state for federal and regional matching funds. About $1.3 million in such funding was lost this year because the state didn’t have a state-funded arts agency.

It’s good that Brownback agreed to revisit the issue of Arts Commission funding. Legislators and arts supporters are willing to get behind the Creative Industries Commission plan if some additional funding is provided. Hopefully that is a compromise the governor also can support.