Faced with a budget deficit of $3 billion, Florida lawmakers are considering repealing a law providing state funding for art, the St. Petersburg Times reports.

According to the law, a fraction of the cost of every new state-funded building must go toward art: a half-percent, up to $100,000. Since 1979, when the law was enacted, the state has spent more than $11.5 million for 1,448 pieces of art. Some $665,000 in spending on art was planned for the next two years.

The repeal of the law was proposed a year ago but then died in committee. But now, with just three weeks left in this year's session, the bill needs only one more committee's approval before it goes to a full vote by lawmakers.

"While this particular bill deals with a subject that's near and dear to many of us' hearts, it's a just a realization of the cold, hard reality of what must be done," Republican Representative Alan Hayes said, before his appropriations panel quickly and unanimously approved the bill.

Detractors of the bill have argued that the funding is economically beneficial because it provides work for artists. But others question its value.

"Do I pay for art instead of paying for care for an abused kid?" asked Republican Senator Ronda Storms, the author of the repeal, who said artists have called her a Philistine. "This is an example of fat. This is a luxury."