The following Acts in Table 9 provide the legislative basis for financing the arts and culture. The first Act provides the legal and administrative basis for the national lotto, lottery and sports betting monopoly and the second Act specifies the use of profits. The remaining Acts provide the legislative framework for state transfers (subsidies) to municipal and local cultural activities and services (including local / municipal theatres and orchestras). These Acts are frequently accompanied with decrees by the Council of State (Cabinet) or the ministries, which specify in greater detail e.g. the tasks and criteria of professionalism of the institutions. While debating and confirming the annual state budget, Parliament can also pass temporary exceptions to general financial legislation (Budget Laws).
Table 9: Legislation covering the allocation of public funds in the cultural sector
| LEGISLATION | COMMENTS |
|---|---|
| Lottery Act (1047/2001) and Pool Betting Decree (241/1993) | The act and the decree give the government the right to contract the monopoly of 1) lottery / lotto, football pools and betting, 2) slot-machines and casinos, and 3) harness race betting to their appropriate organisers; orders the returns to be channelled to the state budget and earmarks their use to specific “good” purposes |
| Act Regulating the Use of the Profits of Lottery / Lotto, Football Pools and Betting (1054/2001. amended 1191/2005) | Defines the shares of the annual returns of lottery / lotto and sports betting as follows: 25% to sports, 9% to youth policy measures, 17.5% for scientific research and 38.5% to the arts; 10% for discretionary use for these purposes. |
| Act on Central Government Transfers to Municipal Basic Services (1704/2009), renews the transfer legislation, which aggregates most important (“basic”) transfer systems and relocates them to be administered as one single package in the Ministry of Finance | General financing law defining the relative share of the state and municipalities in producing basic public services and provides the basic rules for calculating and allocating the transfer of state subsidies to municipalities |
| Act on Financing Education and Culture (previously 635/1998, now 1705/2009), pertaining to the provision of “non-basic” public services financed jointly by the state and municipalities | Specific “Financing Law“defining the rules for calculating and allocating central government transfers (subsidies) to municipal and non-profit local service organisations including professional local and regional theatres, museums, and orchestras |
| Municipal Cultural Activities Act (728/1992, amended 1681/1992) | Legislative basis for the central government support to non-institutional cultural activities in municipalities |
| Museums Act (729/1992, amended 1959/1995, 1166/1996, 877/2005, 1076/2005) | Legislative basis defining professional museums eligible for central government subsidies according to the “Financing Law” |
| Theatres and Orchestras Act (730/1992, Parliament has recently passed an amendment (1066/2007), which adds criteria emphasising artistic aspirations over and above sheer commercial success | Legislative basis defining professional theatres and orchestras eligible for central government subsidies according to the “Financing Law” |
| (Public) Library Act, (904/1998), specified by Decree 1078/1998, defining the tasks of the Central Library and regional libraries in the public library system; its amendment 513/2001 specifies the qualifications of public library personnel | Legislative basis defining the tasks of public (municipal) libraries eligible for central government subsidies according to Act on Central Government Transfers to Municipal Basic Services |
| Act on Discretionary Government Transfers,(688/2001) | Act lays down the grounds and procedures that apply to granting discretionary government transfers (occasional grants-in-aid) to socially or culturally important activities or projects. |
Source: Data Bank FINLEX http://www.finlex.fi/en/
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