KMT lawmaker proposes gutting culture budget

By Ling Mei-hsueh and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer Add TT as Preferred Source Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) has proposed cutting more than NT$1 billion (US$31 million) from the Ministry of Culture’s proposed budget.The proposal, made in the second round of legislative budget reviews, included eliminating the ministry’s entire NT$47.38 million public communications budget and reducing more than 30 other budget items covering operations, personnel, administration, equipment and subsidies.The ministry said its budget had already been reduced by NT$10 million and NT$37.5 million, frozen following cross-party negotiations at a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator We