Back in the Budget?

USA Today is reporting that, after a few very lean years, states are beginning to see surpluses in their annual budgets. Revenues are rising, and for the first time in five years, most state legislatures will have decisions to make on what to fund, instead of cut.

As we noted at the time, when the states first began to face budget shortfalls, charities were disproportionately affected. Most people don't realize how much charitable funding, at the state and local level, comes from taxpayer dollars.

Arts organizations were particularly hard hit, as most were red-lined from the state budgets. And this of course is understandable, as I've yet to meet the elected official willing to stake their political career on constituent tax raises instead of continuing funding for the local symphony.

But now the money is flowing in. States can cut taxes. They can propose new programs. Or they could go back to pre-2000 funding levels for local charities.

What will it be? Will charities see their share of the dollars? As always, it will depend on donors making their wishes known. The only difference is that, in this case, these donors are better known as "taxpayers."