The budget crisis in California is dire, so dire that the Democrats in control of the State Senate are seriously considering a proposal to completely eliminate the State Arts Board, which issues $18 million in grant money to California artists each year. The wholesale destruction of the board, which draws $20 million from the public coffers annually, wouldn’t go far towards eliminating the Golden State’s eye-popping $38 billion deficit, but Senate leaders say there may be no way around it.