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The state legislature today faced a stark choice today: Kill the Texas Commission on the Arts or help the elderly.
The vote involved whether to budget $3.5 million for commission (enough to keep it alive for federal matching grants), or the Community Based Alternative, which helps elderly and disabled transition into nursing homes.
Score: Grandma 1, Culture 0.
The vote today was 67-61, with 17 members wimping out with a "present" vote.
The Dallas Morning News says those who voted to ax the commission were scared by the attack ads they could envision if they voted the other way.
Veteran House members said they easily could visualize the hit piece: Incumbent X voted to give money to the symphony rather than to Grandma and disabled cousin Billy, who needed it for a little help so they could stay in their own homes
At least one member called it a Sophie's Choice, which is perhaps overdramatizing things, which we can't decide is ironic or not.