In the News

Rep. Eric Turkington named House Chair of new Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development

Feb. 9, 2005

Dear Advocates,

We are pleased to announce that House Speaker Sal DiMasi has named State Rep. Eric Turkington, (D-Falmouth) House Chair of the new Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development. Rep. Turkington will guide the Committee with the Senate Chair, Senator Jack Hart (D-South Boston).

MAASH is very pleased with Speaker DiMasi's appointment of Representative Turkington to be the first House Chairman of this new committee. Representative Turkington is very well respected in the House of Representatives and has had a longstanding commitment to developing the arts, sciences and humanities for the benefit of the Commonwealth. Following the Speaker's announcement, Rep. Turkington released a statement to the press in which he said, "Combining the arts and cultural development with tourism is a sensible and appropriate thing to do, since it is the arts and history and culture of this place that make it a national and international attraction for visitors."

Rep. Turkington has been an advocate for the creative economy and has been very effective behind the scenes in connecting the legislative leadership with the legacy of John Adams who wrote in the Massachusetts Constitution that the Legislature has the duty to cherish and enhance the arts, sciences, and humanities.

MAASH also welcomes Rep. Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) as the new Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the critical budget committee and Marie St. Fleur (D-Boston) as Vice-Chair. We believe that this new leadership will recognize the value of increased state investment in the arts, sciences, and humanities.

The state still faces a substantial structural deficit-approximately $700 million. As advocates, we must continue to make the case that state cultural funding is an investment that returns revenue to the state through increased jobs and tourism. Through your help, last year MAASH was able to successfully advocate for the creation of a new $1 million John and Abigail Adams Arts Fund that is providing cultural economic development grants to organizations throughout the state. This year we will have to advocate again for this fund and for increased funding for the MCC as the Governor did not include any funding for the John and Abigail Adams Arts Fund in his budget. The House of Representatives and the Senate will begin work on their spending plans soon. Your advocacy at this time is even more critical.

Now that the leadership of key Committees is in place, we will begin this year's advocacy campaign soon. We want to remind our Local Cultural Council members of the importance of attending the 25th anniversary celebration of the LCC program on March 2 at the State House. LCC members will hear from the state's top leadership and from keynote speaker, Senator Ted Kennedy.

Sincerely,

Dan Hunter

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