Kansas arts commission gets $700,000 - Topeka, KS

Kansas arts commission gets $700,000 The Associated Press TOPEKA | Gov. Sam Brownback has signed into law a state budget for Kansas that includes $700,000 for arts. The measure Brownback signed Friday allocates $700,000 for the new Creative Arts Industries Commission. The signing comes a year after Brownback vetoed funding for the Kansas Arts Commission. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Brownback's move last year made Kansas the first state to stop state funding of the arts. The move also cost Kansas about $1.3 million in federal and regional matching funds. This legislative session, Brownback proposed merging the unfunded arts commission and the Kansas Film Commission into a new commission under the Kansas Department of Commerce. Legislators then allocated $700,000 from the Economic Development Initiatives Fund, which is derived from gaming revenue and opens Kansas to matching federal funds.