82-331. Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund; created; use; investment.

(1) There is hereby established in the state treasury a trust fund to be known as the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund. The fund shall consist of funds appropriated or transferred by the Legislature, and only the earnings of the fund may be used as provided in this section.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, it is the intent of the Legislature that the State Treasurer shall transfer (a) an amount not to exceed one million dollars from the General Fund to the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund on December 31, 2013, (b) an amount not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars from the General Fund to the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund on December 31, 2014, (c) an amount not to exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars from the General Fund to the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund on December 31 of 2015 and 2016, (d) an amount not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars from the General Fund to the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund on December 31 of 2019 and 2020, and (e) an amount not to exceed one million dollars from the General Fund to the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund annually on December 31 beginning in 2021 and continuing through December 31, 2030.

(3) Prior to the transfer of funds from any state account into the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund, the Nebraska Arts Council shall provide documentation to the budget division of the Department of Administrative Services that qualified endowments have generated a dollar-for-dollar match of new money, up to the amount of state funds authorized by the Legislature to be transferred to the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund. For purposes of this section, new money means a contribution to a qualified endowment generated after July 1, 2011. Contributions not fully matched by state funds shall be carried forward to succeeding years and remain available to provide a dollar-for-dollar match for state funds. For an endowment to be a qualified endowment (a) the endowment must meet the standards set by the Nebraska Arts Council or Nebraska Humanities Council, (b) the endowment must be intended for long-term stabilization of the organization, and (c) the funds of the endowment must be endowed and only the earnings thereon expended. The budget division of the Department of Administrative Services shall notify the State Treasurer to execute a transfer of state funds up to the amount specified by the Legislature, but only to the extent that the Nebraska Arts Council has provided documentation of a dollar-for-dollar match. State funds not transferred shall be carried forward to the succeeding year and be added to the funds authorized for a dollar-for-dollar match during that year.

(4) The Legislature shall not appropriate or transfer money from the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund for any purpose other than the purposes stated in sections 82-330 to 82-333, except that the Legislature may appropriate or transfer money from the fund upon a finding that the purposes of such sections are not being accomplished by the fund.

(5) Any money in the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

(6) All investment earnings from the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund shall be credited to the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund.

Source:Laws 1998, LB 799, § 2; Laws 2008, LB1165, § 1; Laws 2009, LB316, § 23; Laws 2010, LB1063, § 3; Laws 2011, LB378, § 30; Laws 2012, LB969, § 11; Laws 2013, LB199, § 39; Laws 2016, LB957, § 12; Laws 2017, LB331, § 55; Laws 2021, LB384, § 15; Laws 2021, LB509, § 20; Laws 2022, LB1012, § 27.

Cross References

82-332. Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund; created; use; investment.

(1) The Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund is created. The fund shall consist of all funds credited from the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund pursuant to section 82-331. The Nebraska Arts Council shall administer and distribute the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund. The Nebraska Arts Council may, through the end of fiscal year 2019-20, use up to thirty thousand dollars annually to defray costs directly related to the administration of sections 82-330 to 82-333. Beginning in fiscal year 2020-21 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Nebraska Arts Council may use from the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund an amount equivalent to one-half of one percent of the balance of the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund to defray costs directly related to the administration of sections 82-330 to 82-333. The annual calculation of the administrative-costs limit shall be carried out in conjunction with the budget division of the Department of Administrative Services. The calculation shall be carried out no later than September 10 of each fiscal year and shall be based upon the balance of the Nebraska Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund as it existed on June 30 of the previous year. Expenditures designated as administrative costs shall not be subject to the private matching fund requirements set forth in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) All disbursements from the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund that are to support arts and humanities projects, endowments, or programs shall be matched dollar-for-dollar by sources other than state funds. The match funds shall be new money generated for endowments established by the Nebraska Arts Council or Nebraska Humanities Council or qualified endowments of their constituent organizations, new money generated as a result of seed grants to recipients, or new money generated by the Nebraska Arts Council or Nebraska Humanities Council for arts or humanities education. Matching funds shall also include earnings generated by qualified private endowments formed in accordance with this section. For purposes of this section, new money means a contribution to a qualified endowment generated after July 1, 2011. Contributions not fully matched by state funds shall be carried forward to succeeding years and remain available to provide a dollar-for-dollar match for state funds. For an endowment to be a qualified endowment (a) the endowment must meet the standards set by the Nebraska Arts Council or Nebraska Humanities Council, (b) the endowment must be intended for long-term stabilization of the organization, and (c) the funds of the endowment must be endowed and only the earnings thereon expended. An organization is a constituent organization if it receives funding from the Nebraska Arts Council or Nebraska Humanities Council and is tax exempt under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code. The match funds required by this section shall not include in-kind contributions. The budget division of the Department of Administrative Services shall approve allotment and disbursement of funds from the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund that are governed by this subsection only to the extent the Nebraska Arts Council has provided documentation of the dollar-for-dollar match required by this section. Funds from the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund may be used for the purpose of obtaining challenge grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities or the National Endowment for the Arts.

(3) Rules and regulations of the Nebraska Arts Council shall provide that the ultimate use of disbursements from the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund authorized under subsection (2) of this section shall be in a ratio of seventy percent to projects, endowments, or programs designated by the Nebraska Arts Council and thirty percent to projects, endowments, or programs designated by the Nebraska Humanities Council.

(4) Any money in the fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

Source:Laws 1998, LB 799, § 3; Laws 2009, LB316, § 24; Laws 2012, LB969, § 12; Laws 2013, LB199, § 40; Laws 2020, LB780, § 3.

Cross References

82-333. Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund; report.

The Nebraska Arts Council shall report to the Clerk of the Legislature and Director of Administrative Services annually regarding disbursements from the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund. The report submitted to the Clerk of the Legislature shall be submitted electronically. The report shall include a complete listing of the uses of the fund, the sources of funding used to match state funds, the amount of investment earnings credited to the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund, and the balance of the Nebraska Arts and Humanities Cash Fund. The report shall cover the period July 1 through June 30 and shall be submitted no later than November 1 of each year.

Source:Laws 1998, LB 799, § 4; Laws 2012, LB782, § 216.