Caption: BY JOHN SMYNTEKFunding for the arts, already under siege by president Reagan's budget cutters on a national level is undergoing a separate - though less-publicized --test of fire in Michigan Council for the Arts.the primary state agency for funding cultural activitiesand artists, is agonizing over how to interpret language in the 1981 appropriationsbill telling the council how to spend $48million in grant money,About $712,0000 of grant money -- some of it critically needed by arts organizations --is being held in an escrow fund pending resolution of the problem. The wording. called boiler plate language" in legislative parlance, says "At least 15 percent of the $4,812.400 appropriated ..for the Michigan Council for the Arts grants programs shall be allocated to arts organizations.. projects which are oriented to and provide programs for minorities, handicapped or economically and culturally disadvantaged citizens".
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