2023 -- H 5146

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LC000683

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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J O I N T   R E S O L U T I O N

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION OF $1,000,000 TO THE RHODE ISLAND COUNCIL FOR

THE HUMANITIES FOR DIRECT GRANT FUNDING TO COMMUNITY CULTURAL

ORGANIZATIONS THROUGHOUT RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Shallcross Smith, Cortvriend, Cardillo, Ackerman,
Fogarty, Hull, Casimiro, Kazarian, Felix, and Ajello

     Date Introduced: January 18, 2023

     Referred To: House Finance

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Humanities Council is a highly respected grantmaking,

infrastructure and strategic partnership organization founded in 1973 as the State’s designee of

the National Endowment for the Humanities; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell authored the 1965 federal law creating

the National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides support to the Rhode Island

Humanities Council for competitive grants that provide the only designated support for

humanities research, education, and programs to individuals and organizations making up the

state’s “Main Street” Creative and Cultural Economy; and

     WHEREAS, Recipients of grants from the Rhode Island Humanities Council include

elementary and secondary schools, libraries, museums, preservation and historical societies,

historic sites, cultural centers, writers, film makers, researchers, archivists and community-based

nonprofits, all of whom craft the stories of Rhode Island’s rich and diverse culture; and

     WHEREAS, During the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the Rhode Island

Humanities Council distributed $915,646 in emergency CARES Act grants and RI CHARG

grants to 136 local organizations reaching 1,114,262 people in 33 of 39 Rhode Island

municipalities; and

     WHEREAS, The emergency grants distributed by the Rhode Island Humanities Council

were a lifeline to local organizations that suffered devastating COVID-related financial reversals,

and the Council’s support ensured the survival of 136 community nonprofits and allowed for the

retention or creation of 302 jobs in the State; and

     WHEREAS, Ninety-five percent of RI CHARG grants were made to small to mid-sized

organizations (budgets under $500,000) and to organizations led by or centered on the

experiences of BIPOC communities; and

     WHEREAS, Emergency CARES Act grants and RI CHARG grants were made possible

by one-time COVID relief funds, and the National Endowment for the Humanities funding level

for the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities no longer enables the Council to continue to

provide the same level of extensive outreach to local organizations that was made during 2020

and 2021; and

     WHEREAS, Thirty-three states provide direct budgetary support to their Humanities

Councils, including nearby Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont; and

     WHEREAS, Annual funding from the National Endowment for Humanities requires the

Rhode Island Humanities Council to match one local dollar for each federal dollar received,

creating the opportunity for our local council to leverage additional federal support if local

appropriation funding is secured; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not

otherwise appropriated for the fiscal year 2023-2024, the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000)

to the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities to support direct grant funding to community

cultural organizations throughout Rhode Island; and the state controller is hereby authorized and

directed to draw his orders upon the general treasurer for the payment of said sum, or so much

thereof as may be from time to time required, upon receipt of properly authenticated vouchers.

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LC000683

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

J O I N T   R E S O L U T I O N

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION OF $1,000,000 TO THE RHODE ISLAND COUNCIL FOR

THE HUMANITIES FOR DIRECT GRANT FUNDING TO COMMUNITY CULTURAL

ORGANIZATIONS THROUGHOUT RHODE ISLAND

***

     This resolution would authorize the appropriation of the sum of $1,000,000 to the Rhode

Island Council for the Humanities to continue efforts to support local cultural organizations

throughout the State.

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LC000683

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