FT 19.12 Sunday At The Museum Act (Statute)

[Anna Komnene]

AN ACT
to incentivize cultural enrichment among Frémonters

Section 1 (Title and definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be "Sunday At The Museum Act".
ii. As it appears in this legislation, "museum" shall refer to each of the institutions established under the Sacagawea Regional Heritage Act.

Section 2 (Text)
i. The first Sunday of each month, entrance to museums shall in any case be free and without cost.
ii. The executive commission for each museum may establish further days of free access, or alternatively, hours of free access, taking into account local needs and characteristics.

Section 3 (Effectiveness)
i. This act shall be effective starting from July 1st, 2021.

Sponsor: Battista Minola

The floor is open!

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I oppose this. The cost of admission to a museum isn't particularly onerous and doesn't particularly impact a persons choice to visit, but it provides valuable revenue to such institutions to continue operating and thriving.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

This is basically copying a real-life Italian policy which has been in place for quite a bit and to my knowledge has been fairly successful and not a big revenue problem [technically it is currently suspended because of COVID, but that's mostly beside the point].

[Anna Komnene]

I like this idea. When I was living in upstate NY, a local history museum had something like this during the night hours once in a while. It was nice to be able to just walk in after work and enjoy the museum without having to worry about lines or anything and kinda ended up working as a gateway drug to museum visiting for me. It's only once per month, so I don't think it would hurt revenues too much and might encourage people to go that wouldn't otherwise. Allowing museums to accept donations on the free Sundays could be an option too for visitors that still want to contribute.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I like this idea. When I was living in upstate NY, a local history museum had something like this during the night hours once in a while. It was nice to be able to just walk in after work and enjoy the museum without having to worry about lines or anything and kinda ended up working as a gateway drug to museum visiting for me. It's only once per month, so I don't think it would hurt revenues too much and might encourage people to go that wouldn't otherwise. Allowing museums to accept donations on the free Sundays could be an option too for visitors that still want to contribute.

Yeah, it seems we are entirely on the same page.
Also, personally I would have expanded this to other venues as well, but I could not find whether and which other museums in Frémont are publicly funded, so I stuck with the ones established in the Regional Heritage Act.

[YE]

I think I like this as it’d increase local tourism and it isn’t a completely unheard of practice as is. Though I wonder if this would be feasible for larger museums.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Most museums will have one or several "free days" a year already, and they are always well-attended and a great opportunity for those who cannot afford to pay $10-20 per person to visit a museum. Having worked in the industry, I will say that Sundays are usually pretty slow at least in my experience, so that's as good a day as any for this.

[Lumine]

This seems like a rather good initiative, and I share the general feeling that a single day a month is enough not to represent a serious drain on museum finances (which, nonetheless, are probably not in good shape due to the pandemic).

Since the bill leaves the window open for further free access days, we may consider - depending on the cost - some sort of local reimbursement mechanism to offset those costs, but I imagine that may be overcomplicating the issue.

[YE]

Yeah that seems too complicated especially without a GC.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I made the bill effective from July in part because that's when I assess the pandemic should not be a pressing concern anymore, by the way.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

It's worth noting that museums do make money on free days via sales in the gift shop and food courts and ticketed activities not included with general admission.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

I move for a final vote on this glorious bill!

[Anna Komnene]

I'll start the vote tomorrow unless anyone objects.

[Anna Komnene]

With no objections, we'll now have a final vote. Members please vote AYE, NAY, or ABSTAIN.

AN ACT
to incentivize cultural enrichment among Frémonters

Section 1 (Title and definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be "Sunday At The Museum Act".
ii. As it appears in this legislation, "museum" shall refer to each of the institutions established under the Sacagawea Regional Heritage Act.

Section 2 (Text)
i. The first Sunday of each month, entrance to museums shall in any case be free and without cost.
ii. The executive commission for each museum may establish further days of free access, or alternatively, hours of free access, taking into account local needs and characteristics.

Section 3 (Effectiveness)
i. This act shall be effective starting from July 1st, 2021.

[YE]

Aye.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Aye

[Lumine]

Aye!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Aye!

[Anna Komnene]

Aye!

[Anna Komnene]

With 5 votes in favor and 1 not voting, this bill passes the Frémont parliament.

AN ACT
to incentivize cultural enrichment among Frémonters

Section 1 (Title and definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be "Sunday At The Museum Act".
ii. As it appears in this legislation, "museum" shall refer to each of the institutions established under the Sacagawea Regional Heritage Act.

Section 2 (Text)
i. The first Sunday of each month, entrance to museums shall in any case be free and without cost.
ii. The executive commission for each museum may establish further days of free access, or alternatively, hours of free access, taking into account local needs and characteristics.

Section 3 (Effectiveness)
i. This act shall be effective starting from July 1st, 2021.

Frémont House of Commons
Passed 5-0-1 in the Frémont Parliament Assembled,

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

AN ACT
to incentivize cultural enrichment among Frémonters

Section 1 (Title and definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be "Sunday At The Museum Act".
ii. As it appears in this legislation, "museum" shall refer to each of the institutions established under the Sacagawea Regional Heritage Act.

Section 2 (Text)
i. The first Sunday of each month, entrance to museums shall in any case be free and without cost.
ii. The executive commission for each museum may establish further days of free access, or alternatively, hours of free access, taking into account local needs and characteristics.

Section 3 (Effectiveness)
i. This act shall be effective starting from July 1st, 2021.

Frémont House of Commons
Passed 5-0-1 in the Frémont Parliament Assembled,