HARRISBURG - In the wake of dramatic cuts in state aid to local museums in recent years, a legislative study recommends creating a new state grant program for museums when state finances allow it.
The study by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee suggests that any future state museum aid grants be awarded based on such factors as the number of visitors, diversity of visitors, operating budget, types of exhibits and programs and extent of educational opportunities.
The study also urges the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to continue turning over more state-owned historic sites to local control.
How the issue is resolved could have implications for a proposal to create a new "Iron District" in Scranton centered around the historic furnaces that were operated by the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Co. in the 19th century. The furnaces are administered by the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum and Iron Furnaces.
Overall, the study highlights the economic impact of some 1,200 museums in Pennsylvania as a collective employer of 13,000 and key part of the tourism industry.
Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations spent nearly $27 million and supported nearly 1,000 jobs in Lackawanna County in fiscal 2010-11, according to the study.
The recession-spurred cutbacks in state spending during the past four years have hit both local and state-run museums hard.
State aid to local museums dropped sharply from $29.3 million in fiscal 2005-06 before the recession started to $2.7 million in fiscal 2011-12.
State support for state-run museums dropped from nearly $40 million in fiscal 2005-06 to $26 million in the current budget.
The budget cuts had a local impact with Everhart Museum in Scranton losing an annual $42,000 appropriation during the budget crisis in 2009, for example. That money has not been restored.
As a result of the cuts, a survey by the study found that about half of the responding museums have fewer paid staffers and rely more on volunteers. About 43 percent have hiked admission prices and 19 percent are open less often.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com