UPDATE: But as ArtsCriticATL notes…”It’s not over yet, however. The measure must be approved by a vote of the full Senate, probably in the next day or two, and, if there is a tie, the Conference Committee. All will be resolved, for good or ill, by the end of the session, April 29.”

From the AJC…

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $17.8 billion budget that includes money the House had stripped from the arts council. The council’s budget will receive a steep cut from the $2.52 million it received in fiscal 2010, but the agency will not be eliminated, as the House had intended.

Elimination of the council could have meant the loss of $878,300 in federal National Endowment for the Arts grants for Georgia.