In Thursday’s (9/30) Detroit Free Press, Chris Christoff and Mark Stryker report, “The Detroit Institute of Arts is likely to get a $10-million gift from a tight state budget later this year or in early 2011. A source close to the negotiations said the DIA deal was reached during the weekend in discussions among Gov. Jennifer Granholm, House Speaker Andy Dillon and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop. … It could be the first act in something bigger—a regional tax to fund the DIA and Detroit Symphony, a leading Detroit lawmaker said Tuesday. Rep. George Cushingberry, D-Detroit, said he will push the lame duck Legislature to allow a vote for a ‘cultural arts’ tax, similar to the Detroit Zoo millage approved in 2008 by voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. ‘We need to do it for the DIA and the symphony,’ said Cushingberry, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee.”
Posted September 30, 2010
