Minnesota is facing a staggering $4.5 billion budget deficit, and the state’s new Republican governor has promised to get rid of the imbalance without raising taxes. So it came as no surprise to anyone in the state’s arts community when Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s budget proposal included a sizable slash in arts funding. While the proposed 22% cut is far from the “zeroing out” being suggested in some states, Minnesota has always prided itself on its commitment to the arts, and artists are preparing a massive lobbying effort to defeat the plan in the state legislature.