A room full of residents raise their hands to testify against a proposal to cut funding from different arts and cultural organizations at the Montana Capitol on Feb. 21, 2025 (Screenshot by Montana Public Affairs Network)
Calling some arts and culture groups “slackers” and “complete no-shows,” Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, stood firmly on a decision that a joint Montana Appropriations subcommittee made that would strip some state cultural funding from some groups, and give more to others — in some cases more than they may have asked for.
However, arts and cultural groups testified during a late Friday afternoon meeting that stretched to near darkness that the process for the funding was not clearly communicated, and in fact, staff with the Montana Arts Council testified that they may have given information that contradicted Fitzpatrick and the rest of the subcommittee based on previous funding cycles.
The funding at issue was House Bill 9, which provides small grants, usually less than $20,000, to arts and cultural groups throughout the state. The Montana Arts Council usually manages the organizations and applicants, and presented 75 groups for funding. During testimony, those arts council staff said that funding for the grants was not conditioned upon testifying at the Legislature.
However, Fitzpatrick, as the chairman of Joint Subcommittee F, said his group of legislators made the unanimous decision to cut funding from any program that didn’t show up to testify, which caught many of the organizations off-guard. Many testified that they had previously received the grants, but that legislative testimony was not required.
Representatives of the arts organizations testified that they felt the “rug had been pulled out from under them,” as those who did not appear before the Legislature had their grants zeroed out, and those who only provided written testimony to the lawmakers had their funding reduced.
Fitzpatrick said repeatedly that he refused to apologize for guarding the tax dollars of Montana, and refused to concede funding authority to the Montana Arts Council.
“They’re victims, I agree,” Fitzpatrick said. “They’re victims of their own decision making. It might be laziness — I don’t know. It might be arrogance. It might be fiscal incompetence, but everybody had an excuse. The only one we didn’t hear is, ‘Grandma died.’ I’m tired of excuses. They’re running a business and they can’t even take five minutes for a ‘give-me’ check?
“I wish one applicant here or on Zoom today would have said that they made a mistake and they were accepting responsibility for their actions. I would have personally taken back the amendment and written them a $500 check to support their organization.”
He said that he was offended that he had scheduled every one of the arts organizations for time with the committee and that they had decided it wasn’t worth it; so, Fitzpatrick said it’s not worth the state’s money.
In closing remarks, Fitzpatrick read a list of organizations, including groups like the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings or the Charles M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, each with more than 10 staff positions and each with budgets more than $1 million. He told his fellow lawmakers that not getting funding wouldn’t hurt their budgets.
“We should reward the people that tried and dismiss the people who didn’t,” Fitzpatrick said.
As the amended House Bill 9 stands currently, 47 organizations will receive funding, 10 had their funding reduced because of written testimony and 17 others, including the Bair Theater, Grant Street Theater and C.M. Russell Museum had their requests zeroed.
“The minute we drop $10,000, though, they have all the time to text, phone, lobby us in the hall and get to this hearing today,” Fitzpatrick said.
No person testified on behalf of the bill, although many expressed gratitude for supporting arts. It put some of the arts and cultural organizations that had received funding, in some cases more funding, in the rare position of advocating against the amended version, requesting to restore the previous version where 75 organizations were given funding.
“(Our organization) would benefit, but I oppose this because it hurts the overall arts community,” said Emily Wolfram of the Montana Performing Arts Consortium.
Benji Cosgrove, the executive director of the Myrna Loy in Helena, said the debate about arts and culture in Montana is larger than any one of the 75 groups.
“This puts me in the odd position,” he said. “We need to spread it to the other. The health of the arts industry statewide is more important than any one organization.”
Christina Barbachano, the executive director of the Holter Museum in Helena, testified that her organization stood to gain more from the changes the subcommittee had made, but she had a different analogy.
“I am a big fan of the arts, and I am a big fan of sports and one of the fundamental rules in any sport is that you don’t change the rules in the middle of the game,” she said. “And this is changing the rules in the middle of the game.”
One group, the Western Heritage Center in Billings, said it did not testify because of the sudden death of it executive director.
Still another group, the Emerson Center, which serves southwestern Montana, said it intentionally made the decision not to participate so other groups could be heard.
“We believed we were saving time by allowing other organizations to have their voices heard,” said Susan Denson-Guy. “If we would have known it would be reduced if we provided written testimony or eliminated, we would have testified.”
Multiple people testified that the history of the fund, and the feedback they were given was completely contradictory to what Fitzpatrick and the rest of the committee wanted.
“This was a terrible misunderstanding in the process,” said John Rausch, a board member of Grant Street Theater in Helena. “We did not know that our presence was actually required. We’re were told it was not a requirement.”
He said that any one of the organizations would have appeared had they known it was part of the process, but it hasn’t been recently, and few were sure how long it had been, if ever.
“There would have been 75 happy people who would drive all across the state for grants, but that doesn’t seem like a very effective or efficient process,” Rausch said.
Instead, the organizations said they submitted their proposals through the Montana Arts Council, which helped organize them.
However, Fitzpatrick also pushed back on that idea, saying the council was not responsible for funding, the lawmakers were. He said that someone representing the organizations could have attended remotely for three to five minute for a check that usually ranged around $12,000.
“Seventeen groups couldn’t bother to take the time to do it. It’s ridiculous. When cash is available, it’s a slam dunk,” Fitzpatrick said, noting that the committee, comprised of Democrats and Republicans, agreed to the amendment unanimously that would re-arrange the funding.
Tanya Call, the founder and director of Cohesion Dance Project in Helena, testified that her group, which supports adaptive dance for persons with disabilities, has previously received grant funding. However, she said it was not previously required, and wondered how groups would have known.
“It’s a no-brainer. You show up for five minutes and you get a $12,000 check,” Fitzpatrick said. “We didn’t change the rules, we applied the rules. If it’s not that important to you, it’s not that important to us.”
Fitzpatrick said he scheduled time before the committee, beginning on the second day of the legislative session. He levied some of the blame at the Montana Arts Council, which earlier in the meeting confirmed it had told organizations they were not required to attend and one staff member apologized, while in tears.
“What I find offensive is that we’ve totally destroyed the idea of merit,” Fitzpatrick said. “With this set of amendments, we’re saying it’s time to get our legislative authority back. There’s nothing that says we have to fund everybody because the Montana Arts Council put them in the bill.”