Today, April 2nd was my day to testify at the State Assembly budget hearings on behalf of the Historical Commission grant program which, in turn, funds the New Jersey Historical Society budget. This is the second year that I have testified at both the State Senate and Assembly budget hearings and for whatever reason, the two experiences are very different.I don't think it has anything to do with party as the experience is the same across party lines. The purpose of the Senate hearings appears to be to allow anyone who wishes to, to get their position on the record. Most people testifying end up reading their testimony and the times I have been there, there have been few, if any questions from the senators. I am not trying to be critical, it is just so different from the Assembly.
At the beginning of the Assembly budget hearings, Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, who is the chair, asks people not to read their testimony. Rather he suggests that it would be better to use the allotted five minutes for interaction with the committee. At another hearing, I heard him say that what comes out of that dialogue is often used by the committee members in their own deliberations. That makes the experience more challenging, at least for me, but it certainly does seem to be a productive approach. Below is my written testimony which I kind of summarized verbally, I felt the testimony went fine, but I could have done a better job in the dialogue that followed. At the end Assemblyman Greenwald said we needed to have more dialogue and so I plan to pursue that. It was a draining experience, but one that was important.
"I am here to testify about funding for the Historical Commission’s grant program. I want to start by thanking this committee not just for the opportunity to be heard, but equally important the chance to be part of a discussion. In times such as these the more inclusive the process, the better the chance of finding the best solutions for the problems that face our state.
During the trying times of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said that “we must learn to think anew.” That idea seems just as relevant in these difficult times as it did then. Thinking anew today about the state budget can mean many things, two that seem particularly appropriate are the ideas that tax payer dollars must be spent in the most cost effective way possible and that we should all be focused on strengthening our state’s economy. I believe that New Jersey’s history organizations can make important contributions in both areas.
I hope that we all agree that it is important for our school children to learn about the history of their community and their state. If so, then clearly strong history organizations can help to teach that history in a cost effective manner. If school children in Paterson or Bordentown are going to learn about the history of their communities, surely it is more cost effective to use resources and programs developed by history organizations rather than have each school district develop their own programs. As we move beyond the local this becomes even more true, if school children in Camden County and Monmouth County are going to learn about the history of their region, then again it must be cost effective to have multiple school districts drawing on the resources of county and state historical organizations.
Strong history organizations can also make an important contribution to our state’s economy. The strongest history organizations are those that develop strong programming which generates revenue which is in turn used to generate more programming and so on. In that way history organizations become a strong economic engine – an engine that helps not just that organization, but also the local and state economy as well. This can be especially important in difficult economic times like these when many families are looking for less expensive vacations closer to home.
The operative word in what I have said so far is strong – strong history organizations can make the contributions that I mention. Unfortunately most New Jersey history organizations today are not strong, and many are in serious danger of not being able to carry out their mission. Just one example, is that the New Jersey Historical Society, the only state wide history organization has been closed to the public since the middle of February. We plan to re-open soon, but the crisis remains. Our problem is not that our costs are too high, but our revenue is too low. The 25% cut proposed in the 2010 budget will have a devastating impact not just on NJHS, but on all history organizations. I urge you to restore the proposed cut – please help New Jersey history so that New Jersey history can help New Jersey."
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