State funding for the Bishop Museum - Legislative Reference Bureau

BACKGROUND
Hawaii is considering how to fund mtiseums in the state, 1
would certainly recommend giving some state agency a sum
of money that it could distribute based on a certain
developed criteria.
We have no museum that would claim state-wide influence or
content and we are a long way from any kind of ethic that would
demand state (legislative) support of museums at all.
The museums (historical societies actually) that are recognized
in statute as state agencies, do not view the ad hoc funding of non-
state agency museums with equanimity, since their own needs are
frequently not met.
The Smithsonian Institution: A Public-Private Partnership
Because the Resolution cited the Smithsonian lnstitution as "an
educational and scientific institution founded and operated under the concept
of public-private partnership," a more detailed examination of the workings of
the Smithsonian lnstitution is presented.
Facilities and Collections. The Smithsonian Institution, custodian of the
National Collections of the United States, is one of the world's leading
research centers and has the world's largest museum complex, attracting
approximately 27,000,000 visitors annually to its museums, galleries, and
zoological park. Additionally, millions of people view Smithsonian traveling
exhibitions, appearing throughout the United States and abroad, and its
annual folklife festival. "
The Smithsonian possesses more than 100 million art objects, natural
history specimens, and artifacts. The collections are displayed for visitors
and are utilized for research by staff of the Smithsonian and by hundreds of
visiting students, scientists, and historians each year. l2