Advocacy

“I can’t thank you enough for all you have done to help USUO this session. We are so grateful and appreciate your time and effort in helping us receive some funding for the POPS RFP.”  Hillary Hahn, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera

 

To request a current advocacy toolkit or candidate survey responses, email staff@utahculturalalliance.org. You must be a current member of Utah Cultural Alliance to have access to these resources.

Our Advocacy Efforts on Your Behalf:

  • The Utah Cultural Alliance connects individuals and cultural organizations with public policy makers
  • We host legislative workshops and forums during Utah’s legislative session
  • We keep you up-to-date during the legislative session on bills of impact to Utah’s arts, humanities, and cultural sectors
  • We meet regularly with federal and local elected officials to represent and lobby on behalf of you, the arts & cultural sector
  • We carry out  candidate cultural surveys in election years and publish the results to our membership
  • We give our members an annual advocacy toolkit containing the ins and outs of successful advocacy as well as providing important cultural statistics.
  • Our lobbyist Jayceen Craven Walker works to help us further appropriations requests and bills that benefit the arts & cultural sector
  • We’re partnering with the Utah Arts Council Board of Directors and Art Works for Kids! on the annual Arts Day on the Hill. We also work to promote and support Museums Day, History Day, and Nonprofit day on the Hill
  • We send one more board members to National Arts Advocacy and Humanities Advocacy Days in Washington DC to serve as the state representative

Click here for Legislator contact info and to look up bills & meetings.
Important committees to follow:

Utah Cultural Alliance (UCA) Advocacy Policies and Procedures:

In fulfillment of its mission, the UCA may take a public position on issues affecting the Utah cultural community at large. If it so chooses, the UCA will speak to issues that reflect its constituency and affect the cultural quality of life in Utah. The UCA seeks to advocate on behalf of legislation that has a statewide or regional impact, and is broad-based in nature.

Limitations of UCA Advocacy:
The UCA will not act on legislation in a manner that is contrary to our mission and goals or is substantially damaging to one constituent group over another. UCA’s position on any issue shall not have been formally determined without a letter on UCA letterhead that is signed by the Administrator or the Chair of the Board of Directors.

Process for Determining a UCA Position:
To request advocacy assistance or for formal public actions by the Utah Cultural Alliance, please email staff@utahculturalalliance.org.

Non-legislative, public policy and community issues will be reviewed within 30 days. The Administrator will complete a UCA Advocacy Staff Report that will include a recommendation that will be forwarded to the UCA Executive Committee. The UCA Executive Committee will review the staff report and recommend an official position for final determination by the Board of Directors.

In order to proactively address pre-session Legislative issues, UCA is open to receiving proposals — between May 1 and August 31 of any given year — for the upcoming Legislative session from member organizations seeking UCA support. Two tiers of UCA support are available. Member organizations may submit proposals requesting: 1) general support requiring a simple endorsement by UCA for an issue, or 2) specific support requiring pro-active advocacy by the UCA. Members should indicate in their proposal what type of action they are requesting. The Administrator will complete a UCA Advocacy Staff Report with recommendations to be forwarded to the UCA Executive Committee. Between September 1 and November 15, UCA’s Executive Committee will review all proposals and staff reports simultaneously and recommend an official position for final determination by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may limit the number of proposals to act on in any upcoming legislative session.

For legislation or other time-sensitive issues that arise during the Legislative session, a determination by the Board of Directors will be made as quickly as possible. The Administrator will complete a UCA Advocacy Staff Report that will include a recommendation that will be forwarded to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will review the staff report and recommend an official position for final determination by the Board of Directors.

UCA’s Administrator or Chair may act on behalf of the organization as long as it is in accordance with UCA’s goals and missions. Whenever possible, the Administrator or Chair will provide a summary of the issue and action.

UCA’s staff and Executive Committee may consider its own limited resources and risk tolerance when making a determination on a proposed advocacy action or position.

Criteria for determining UCA positions:

UCA advocacy shall meet or exceed at least one of these criteria:

  • Promote unity within the cultural community;
  • Expand public awareness and appreciation of culture;
  • Increase financial support from the public and private sectors;
  • Champion access to cultural activities for all Utahns;
  • Ensure public policy for culture is inclusive and equitable;
  • Ensure public policy creates a balance between preservation and creativity;
  • Build relationships with constituents, elected officials, and community leaders; and Enhance communication with our members, elected officials and the general public.

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