(VIDEO) Winkler Skeptical of Legacy Funds Going to Art Classes

Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-District 44B) said he's skeptical about a proposal that would allocate money in the state's cultural heritage fund to arts education.

The House bill, authored by Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-District 36B), would require that 40 percent of annual spending from the Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund directly benefit children enrolled in public and nonpublic schools.

Garofalo said about 40 percent of the state's general budget is used for education finance, so he said it "seems like good policy and the right thing to do" to institute a similar provision specific to arts education funding.

Winkler, however, said he feels that this an attempt to replace money that was taken away from schools last year as the state enacted a funding shift to end the shutdown.

The legislator added that the legacy fund is meant to supplement other funding sources, not replace them.

"It seems to me what you’re trying to do is take money from arts and cultural heritage to help cover up the fact that this legislature has made a commitment to school kids and hasn’t delivered on it," Winkler said.

Garofalo said this bill is only meant to supplement existing arts education funding, but Winkler didn't seem convinced.

"I guess it’s a way of making the legacy (committee) the omnibus committee, so we can discuss every single budget item as we steal funds that were dedicated to arts and cultural resources," he said.