QUESTION
How will the safety net funding be funded, and will it address organizations that faced significant budget cuts in fiscal year 2024?
3:04:32
·
169 sec
The safety net funding will come from additional funds added at the budget adoption stage, not from the baseline cultural affairs funding that goes through the panel review process.
- It will not be part of the baseline cultural funding that has to go through panel review
- Funding will be added during the budget adoption process specifically for the safety net initiative
- There are not enough resources to provide retroactive funding to address cuts organizations faced in fiscal year 2024
- The goal is to implement the safety net funding going forward in an equitable and streamlined way, not rushing at the expense of harming organizations
Carlina Rivera
3:04:32
And I wanna ask about the safety net.
3:04:34
Oh, Ward.
3:04:34
Because I thought that was really interesting.
3:04:36
And I think that a designated funding pot for safety net is necessary.
3:04:41
Correct.
3:04:42
Right?
3:04:42
And that and that's to ensure that public funding streams to not not necessarily that public funding streams do not unnecessarily or unknowingly harm dedicated organizations that serve our communities.
3:04:56
So I'm glad to hear that this is gonna be implemented going forward.
3:05:00
Think it should have been included at the start of the reforms, but we're here now.
Beth Allen
3:05:03
Mhmm.
Carlina Rivera
3:05:04
How will this safety net funding be funded?
3:05:07
Is it going to come from additional funds from the administration that's dedicated to this, or will it come from the existing CDF funding?
3:05:16
And will any of this funding be able to address organizations who saw large cuts in fiscal year 24.
Laurie Cumbo
3:05:23
It will not be a part of baseline funding because baseline funding has to go through the panel review process, so it will not be a part of baseline funding.
3:05:33
It will be through funding that's added at adoption, and we will make sure that there's funding adequately available for monies that are added at adoption to be able to cover this particular initiative that we are policy, that are initiating through the Department of Cultural Affairs.
3:05:52
It will be moving forward.
3:05:55
We looked at the opportunity to do a look back but we just don't have the resources to do a look back.
3:06:01
These are, as we've said, this is a pilot process, and we are continuing to evolve and learn and to implement.
3:06:08
So much of the information that we're getting from the hearings and from feedback calls, and that is in part why, as you mentioned earlier, why the application was being launched later this year because each policy change takes a significant amount of time It takes a significant amount of time to make a policy change within the agency, as well as with the law department, and to do all of these different things takes time.
3:06:33
But we wanted to we didn't just want to just continue to move forward in the in the interest of expediency.
3:06:40
We wanted to make sure that if the field is articulating the challenges that they are facing with being zeroed out or to receive such a reduction in funding, we have to fix that.
3:06:53
And when we fix that, it takes time.
3:06:55
And when it takes time, that impacts the organizations.
3:06:58
But the goal was to take this time, make these necessary changes, and to get back on track so that we can deliver resources more equitably and a more streamlined approach on time and even early in order to get the funding out the door.
3:07:14
But I didn't want a race to get funding out the door at the expense of organizations that are hurt and harmed along the way.
Carlina Rivera
3:07:21
Okay.
