Bill costs museum $20K
Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 29, 2004
A $4.5 billion education budget for the state of Alabama will mean a nearly $20,000 loss in funding for Selma’s National Voting Rights’ Museum, according to documentation released by the Associated Press.
The bill cuts funding to many museums and agencies not run by the state.
It was approved Tuesday by a 89-10 vote on the House floor.
According to the AP, National Voting Right’s Museum is one of several organizations that will be hurt.
The museum, one of the main tourist attractions in the city of Selma, will lose $17,823 in funding.
Sam Walker, with the museum, said the organization had been aware of the impending loss of funding for some time.
Tour director Joanne Bland added, &uot;it was already gone.&uot;
Like many agencies across the state and across the nation, Bland said the museum is facing a budget crunch but that won’t stop them from educating visitors to Selma’s history.
According to the Old Depot Museum’s Jean Martin, the other museums in the city won’t be affected by the budget because they receive no state funding.