LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) _ The chairman for the National Endowment
for the Arts says the agency had no choice but to cut Kansas' arts
funding.
Rocco Landesman addressed issues facing Kansas after Gov. Sam
Brownback removed the budget for the Kansas Arts Commission last
May, making Kansas the only state to eliminate its arts funding.
Landesman said the NEA told Kansas it wasn't eligible for
federal funding because it could not demonstrate that it was
supported financially by the state. Kansas then lost $1.3 million
in federal and regional matching funds as a result. He said it's
mandated by law that there has to be a state match.
Landesman said Thursday that other states don't want to be in
the position Kansas is in because they want NEA support and
funding.