[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 86 (Thursday, May 18, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY:
  S. 1174. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
that a deduction equal to fair market value shall be allowed for 
charitable contributions of literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly 
compositions created by the donor; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, in celebration of Museum Day on May 18, we 
reintroduce the ``Artist-Museum Partnership Act.'' This legislation 
would enable our country to keep cherished art works in the United 
States and to preserve them in our public institutions. At the same 
time, this legislation will erase an inequity in our Tax Code that 
currently serves as a disincentive for artists to donate their works to 
museums and libraries. Since 2000 I have introduced this same bill in 
each Congress. It was also included in the Senate-passed version of the 
2001 tax reconciliation bill, the Senate-passed version of the 2003 
Charity Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment, CARE, Act, and the Senate-
passed version of the 2005 tax reconciliation bill.
  This legislation would preserve cherished art works for the public by 
allowing artists to take a fair market deduction for works they donate 
to museums, libraries, colleges and other public institutions. Under 
current law, artists who donate their created work may only deduct the 
cost of supplies, while a collector of the same work who donates it to 
qualified charitable institutions is allowed to take a tax deduction 
equal to the fair market value of the donated work.
  In my State of Vermont, we are incredibly proud of the great works 
produced by hundreds of local artists who choose to live and work in 
the Green Mountain State. Displaying their creations in museums and 
libraries helps develop a sense of pride among Vermonters and 
strengthens a bond with Vermont, its landscape, its beauty, and its 
cultural heritage. Anyone who has contemplated a painting in a museum 
or examined an original manuscript or composition and has gained a 
greater understanding of both the artist and the subject as a result, 
knows the tremendous value of these works. I would like to see more of 
them, not fewer, preserved in Vermont and across the country.
  Prior to 1969, artists and collectors alike were able to take a 
deduction equivalent to the fair market value of a work. Congress 
changed the law for artists in response to the perception that some 
taxpayers were taking advantage of the law by inflating the market 
value of self-created works. Much has changed in the United States 
since 1969 when the tax law was amended. There has been an explosion of 
artistic and literary creativity in the country that is valued 
throughout the world. Yet, since the law was changed, artists now give 
far less frequently than before, harming the public by denying it the 
opportunity to see museum-quality contemporary art. The current tax law 
discriminates against those who choose to make their living as artists 
and writers. It also undermines the ability of public and cultural 
institutions, especially those in small and midsized cities and towns, 
to collect and preserve our Nation's cultural patrimony. With no or 
meager acquisition budgets, it is impossible for them to compete in the 
global art market.
  A letter from the distinguished Librarian of Congress Emeritus James 
Billington stated that ``restoration of this tax deduction would vastly 
benefit their institution's manuscript and music holdings, and remove 
the single major impediment to developing the Library's graphic arts 
holdings. The Artist-Museum Partnership Act would once again allow 
artists who donate their own paintings, manuscripts, compositions, or 
scholarly compositions to be subject to the same new rules that all 
taxpayers or collectors who donate such works follow.''
  This legislation is vital because it reminds us that artists have an 
important role in the process of engaging communities, and artists are 
a cultural necessity in the fabric of any community in Vermont or 
around the world.
  The Artist-Museum Partnership Act is supported by such organizations 
as the Vermont Arts Council, Shelburne Museum, Association of Art 
Museum Directors, American Alliance of Museums, Americans for the Arts, 
Dance/USA, League of American Orchestras, National Assembly of State 
Arts Agencies, National Council for the Traditional Arts, OPERA 
America, Theatre Communications Group, Local Learning, Artists Rights 
Society, National Humanities Alliance, College Art Association, and 
Fractured Atlas.
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