Adopted by the 1993 Session of the General Assembly, House Joint Resolution No. 453 established a joint study committee to examine Virginia's educational museums and the appropriate level of public funding for these institutions. The committee was comprised of three members of the House of Delegates, appointed by the Speaker of the House; two members of the Senate, appointed by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections; and four members appointed by the Governor, including one representative of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, one representative of the business community, one representative of the Department of Education, and one citizen at large.

Acknowledging the significant value of museums as educational as well as cultural institutions, HJR 453 directed the joint subcommittee to conduct a comprehensive study of educational museums, to develop eligibility criteria for receipt of public funds as well as guidelines for state appropriations, and to examine "ways in which the Commonwealth might encourage and promote the arts." To meet these study directives, the committee's work included a review of the Commonwealth's seven state agency museums as well as the legal, fiscal, and administrative distinctions between public and private educational museums in Virginia. Also meriting committee scrutiny were current funding mechanisms for Virginia's educational museums and the availability of funding sources for public and private museums, including federal, state, local, and private funds. Finally, the subcommittee considered museum funding practices in other states and analyzed a variety of complex financial and policy issues, including museum patronage, geographic location, and impact on other activities promoting tourism and economic development.

Seeking to identify priorities for funding non-state educational and cultural institutions, the joint subcommittee has met 10 times since its 1993 inception. In its first year of study, the joint subcommittee sought the input of representatives of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Department of Taxation, museum associations, and the institutions themselves, and visited non-state educational museums across the Commonwealth to witness the valuable programs and resources offered by these institutions. The subcommittee's 1994 report, House Document No. 83, set forth recommendations that the joint subcommittee continue its study and that state funding for the Commission for the Arts be increased, consistent with the goal articulated by the General Assembly of an ultimate annual general fund appropriation of one dollar per capita. The report also included the subcommittee's policy statement recognizing the valuable contributions of educational and cultural museums to the Commonwealth and acknowledging the need for consistent, equitable support for these institutions.

With the adoption of House Joint Resolution No. 75, the 1994 Session of the General Assembly ensured the continuation of the subcommittee's work for another year. Committee membership continued as appointed in 1993. The joint subcommittee's study was to include "further review of non-state museum access to other funding sources, such as federal, local, and private funds; consideration of museum funding mechanisms, such as special taxes or contributions, employed in other states; and an additional examination of funding guidelines employed by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and other entities as the joint subcommittee may deem appropriate." Although the joint subcommittee declined to present specific legislation to the 1995 Session of the General Assembly, it concluded that any state funding mechanism for non-state museums should:

• acknowledge the Commonwealth's commitment to the existing "hierarchy" of state and non-state educational and cultural organizations;

• create a stable funding source for those identified non-state institutions that demonstrate a clear educational mission as well as a strong impact on regional economic development;

• provide funding for those institutions that have come to rely on state assistance;

• identify an agency or organization to administer state support;

• designate a portion of an existing general fund revenue source to support these non-state entities;

• preserve legislative oversight; and

• ensure continuity in the administration of state support. (*1)

The joint subcommittee agreed that its work should continue, and proposed House Joint Resolution No. 430, which was adopted by the 1995 Session. The resolution directed the joint subcommittee to "monitor the implementation of its recommendations and to develop additional recommendations regarding funding mechanisms for non-state educational and cultural entities and other related issues as it deems appropriate."

Also included among the recommendations of the joint subcommittee was the restoration of state funding in fiscal year 1995-96 for non-state entities, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the Commonwealth's seven state agency museums to "the levels cited in Chapter 966 of the 1994 Acts of Assembly." While the joint subcommittee was successful in maintaining funding levels for non-state educational and cultural entities in the 1995 Appropriation Act, six of the seven state agency museums witnessed reductions in state funding. The Virginia Commission for the Arts, however, received a slight increase in state general funds in 1995-96.2
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(*1) Report of the Joint Subcommittee Studying Educational Museums and the Appropriate Level of Public Support to be Provided Such Institutions pursuant to HJR 75, House Document No. 63, at 16 (1995) [hereinafter referred to as House Document No. 63].
(*2) 0nly the Chippokes Plantation Foundation maintained stable funding for the second year of the fiscal biennium. See 1994 Acts of Assembly, c. 966, § 1-102, Item 505; 1995 Acts of Assembly, c. 853, §§ 167 (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts); 1-68 (Science Museum of Virginia); 1-69 (Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation); 1-70 (Frontier Culture Museum); 1-71 (Gunston Hall); 1-72 (Virginia Commission for the Arts); 1-108 (Virginia Museum of Natural History).