Gov. Sam Brownback gets credit for something he didn’t do as he signed the 2013 budget Friday: He didn’t veto the total $700,000 that the Legislature had designated for the new Creative Arts Industries Commission. Brownback had recommended only $200,000 for the new commission, which will be in the Commerce Department. But lawmakers were convinced that the state’s revived support for the arts would have a better chance for success with better funding. After single-handedly destroying the 45-year-old Kansas Arts Commission last year, sacrificing $1.2 million in federal and regional arts grants in the process, Brownback at least has demonstrated some contrition by proposing the new commission and allowing it some meaningful startup funding.
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