AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CULTURAL TREASURES ACCOUNT.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2007) (a) There is established an account to be known as the "cultural treasures account", which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account within the General Fund. The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account.

(b) The moneys in said account shall be expended by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism for the purpose of providing grant funds to individuals, institutions and organizations for creating, preserving, promoting and expanding nonprofit arts and cultural activities in the state provided the funds are distributed as follows: Sixty per cent to nonprofit arts and cultural institutions and organizations with annual operating budgets of more than one million dollars and forty per cent to nonprofit arts and cultural institutions, organizations and individuals with annual operating budgets of less than one million dollars.

(c) The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism shall award grants provided in subsection (b) of this section to such individuals, institutions and organizations based on criteria, including, but not limited to: (1) Cultural merit, (2) financial strength, (3) management accountability, (4) community involvement, (5) visitors per year, (6) number of students served, (7) historic value, and (8) the percentage of available state funds compared to nongovernmental funds.

(d) Before awarding any grants pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism shall make any and all criteria established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section available to applicants.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2007) (a) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the Commissioner of Revenue Services shall segregate not less than five million dollars from the total gross receipts collected under section 12-258 of the general statutes from any person operating community antenna television systems and any person operating a business that provides one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming by satellite. Such segregated funds shall be allocated by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to the Commission on Culture and Tourism on a quarterly basis pursuant to subsection (b) of section 12-256 of the general statutes for the purposes identified in section 1 of this act.

(b) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Revenue Services shall segregate not less than ten million dollars from the total gross receipts collected under section 12-258 of the general statutes from any person operating community antenna television systems and any person operating a business that provides one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming by satellite. Such segregated funds shall be allocated by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to the Commission on Culture and Tourism on a quarterly basis pursuant to subsection (b) of section 12-256 of the general statutes for purposes identified in section 1 of this act.

Statement of Purpose:

To implement the Governor's budget recommendations.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]