Notice of Proposed Rule

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Division of Cultural Affairs
RULE NO: RULE TITLE
1T-1.001: Division of Cultural Affairs
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose of this amendment will be to change in rule policies for the Division’s grant programs and the Cultural Support Grant Program.
SUMMARY: The proposed rule adds that state-supported institutions cannot use state funds as match and are also not allowed to include overhead/indirect costs in the Grant Proposal Budget for any Division grant programs. It adds to the Cultural Support Grants Program that museums must be open 180 days a year on a regular basis to be eligible to apply to any discipline, the maximum request amount for multidisciplinary museums submitting 2 applications, deletes the listing of Cultural Support Grants Program disciplines, and deletes REDI points.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: There are no regulatory costs associated with this proposed rule.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 255.043(4), 265.284(5)(d), 265.285(1)(c), 265.286(1), (6), 265.2861(2)(b), (f), 265.2865(6), 265.605(1), 265.608(1), 265.609(1), (4), 265.701(5), 265.702(8) FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 215.97, 255.043, 265.284, 265.285, 265.286, 265.2861, 265.2865, 265.601-.603, 265.605-.607, 265.608, 265.609, 265.701, 265.702, 286.011, 286.012, 286.25, 288.0656, 288.06561 FS.
IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:
DATE AND TIME: Monday, July 23, 2007, 9:00 a.m.
PLACE: Division of Cultural Affairs, 500 South Bronough Street, R. A. Gray Building, 3rd Floor, Tallahassee, Florida
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 72 hours before the workshop/meeting by contacting: Division staff at (850)245-6356 or Text Telephone 711. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Sarah Stage or D. Scott Moore, Division of Cultural Affairs, 500 South Bronough Street, R. A. Gray Building, 3rd Floor, Tallahassee, Florida 32301, (850)245-6470

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

1T-1.001 Division of Cultural Affairs.

The purpose of the rule is to establish administrative procedures for all Division of Cultural Affairs (Division) activities.

(1) through (4) No change.

(5)(a) through (e) 1. No change.

2. State-supported institutions may not include overhead or indirect costs in the Grant Proposal Budget.

3.  State-supported institutions may not use state funds as match in the Grant Proposal Budget.

4.2. REDI Waiver. The Division will waive the cash matching requirements on Division project grants for an applicant that has been designated as REDI qualified in accordance with Sections 288.0656 and 288.06561, F.S. This cash waiver is applicable only to the following project programs: Cultural Support Specific Project, Quarterly Assistance, Arts in Education, International Cultural Exchange, and Challenge. In lieu of cash match, the equivalent of total match must be instead shown in the proposal budget as in-kind match. To obtain a match waiver, the applicant must submit a letter from the local county government that acknowledges the grant application and requests the waiver; this letter must accompany the grant application. The list of REDI counties and communities is reviewed and updated annually and is available on the Division’s website.

5.3. Grants awarded in the Challenge Grant Program, the Underserved Arts Communities Assistance Program, and the State Touring Program have match requirements specific to those programs.

(f) through (7)(a) No change.

1. General Program Support Funding. In addition to the basic eligibility requirements detailed in subsection (5), applicants for General Program Support must have received at least one non-capital program grant from the Division of Cultural Affairs, and must be a cultural organization or a recurring cultural program conducting programs on a regular basis that meet the intent of one of the disciplinary review categories as detailed in the guidelines. These categories include but are not limited to dance, folk arts, interdisciplinary, literature, media arts, multidisciplinary, museums, music, sponsor/presenter, theatre, visual arts, and discipline service. For the purpose of this program area, a recurring cultural program is one that is part of a multipurpose or state-supported institution. It must function as a discrete unit within its parent institution and present or produce a full season of programming on a yearly basis. The cultural program must have at least one paid full-time staff member, whose responsibilities are solely for the organization’s services and operations; have an advisory board which governs the activities of the program, and be able to separately and distinctly fulfill all eligibility and application requirements. Entire departments or schools within a university, college, or other multipurpose institution do not qualify as recurring cultural programs.

a. through c. No change.

2.a. through b. No change.

c. Organizations can only receive one General Program Support grant from the Division of Cultural Affairs and any division within the Department of State in the same fiscal year. This policy is effective as of July 1, 2008 for Cultural Organizations and July 1, 2010 for Cultural Institutions. The only exception to this limitation is for a multidiscipinary museum, which is defined as a museum that addresses two or more disciplines to a significant extent: for example, a museum that interprets both art and history or both history and science. Multidisciplinary museums will be permitted to receive a total of two General Program Support grants from the Division of Cultural Affairs or any other division within the Department of State. A discipline-specific operating budget must be used for each application; multidisciplinary museums cannot use the same operating budget for both applications. Multidisciplinary museums that submit two General Program Support applications to the Cultural Support Grants Program may request a maximum of $100,000 in the Cultural Organizations category and a maximum of $350,000 in the Cultural Institutions category.

3. Museums applying to any discipline must have been open to the public on a regular schedule and must have been open for at least 180 days each year.

(b) No change.

1. Organizations conducting 50% or more of their proposed cultural project or programming in a financially underserved county, or REDI qualified community, will be awarded three (3) additional points to their Public Impact score, not to exceed thirty points. A financially underserved county is one that has received an average of less than $10,000 in state cultural grant program funding in the last two state fiscal years preceding the deadline. REDI qualified means those counties or communities designated as of the application deadline pursuant to Sections 288.0656 and 288.06561, F.S.

1.2. An average panel score of at least 75 points out of a maximum possible 100 points must be earned to be considered for funding for Specific Project applications. The panel is not required to fund all Specific Project applications that receive a minimum average score of 75 points. An average panel score of 80 points out of a maximum possible 100 points must be earned to receive funding for Cultural Organizations applications; and 85 points out of a maximum possible 100 points must be earned to receive funding for Cultural Institutions applications. General Program Support award amounts recommended to the Council will be determined through the use of a funding method formula for all applications achieving the minimum eligible category-specific score. All General Program Support applications earning an eligible category-specific average will receive funding under the funding method formula of not less than $2,500. Based on their review, the panel makes funding recommendations for Specific Project grant awards to the Council. In determining which applications to fund, the panel will consider only applications that have achieved the required minimum average score of 75 and other criteria which include the overall group of eligible Specific Project applications, the relative merits of each proposal as demonstrated through scores based on the program review criteria, the anticipated funds available for the program, the perceived needs of the artistic or cultural discipline, the constituency served, and how well the proposed project fulfills the mission of the Cultural Support Grants program. In determining award amounts for those proposals recommended for funding, the panel may not recommend funding of less than $2,500.

2.3. In addition to the basic eligibility requirements detailed in subsection (5), support documentation in the form of financial statements or audits, investment account statements, and program materials as appropriate to substantiate specific program eligibility; and a response to at least one of the application narrative questions, is required. Cultural Institutions applicants are also required to provide: a complete funding worksheet; applicants must submit financial statements or audits for all 4 fiscal years provided on the funding worksheet; and documentation that the applicant organization has received accreditation by the American Association of Museums or the American Zoological Association. The application will be declared ineligible if required information is not submitted by the application deadline.

(8) through (20) No change.

Specific Authority 255.043(4), 265.284(5)(d), 265.285(1)(c), 265.286(1), (6), 265.2861(2)(b), (f), 265.2865(6), 265.605(1), 265.608(1), 265.609(1), (4), 265.701(5), 265.702(8) FS. Law Implemented 215.97, 255.043, 265.284, 265.285, 265.286, 265.2861, 265.2865, 265.601-.603, 265.605-.607, 265.608, 265.609, 265.701, 265.702, 286.011, 286.012, 286.25, 288.0656, 288.06561 FS. History–New 11-23-82, Formerly 1T-1.01, Amended 10-1-96, 10-31-96, 2-2-97, 6-2-97, 7-17-97, 9-10-97, 1-4-98, 7-26-98, 8-2-98, 10-5-98, 10-25-98, 8-17-99, 8-1-02, 12-29-02, 10-14-03(17), 10-14-03(20), 11-16-03, 2-2-05, 5-16-05, 6-21-05, 12-20-05, 5-22-06, 6-5-06, 6-27-06,_________.


NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Sarah Stage
NAME OF SUPERVISOR OR PERSON WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Sandy Shaughnessy
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: June 8, 2007
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: May 4, 2007