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A legislative bill that would have prohibited cultural institutions from selling pieces of their collection to cover operating costs has stalled, the New York Times reports.

For years, the New York Board of Regents has regulated the sale of art. In 2008, the board implemented emergency regulations following a proposal by Fort Ticonderoga to sell some of its artifacts to cover a budget shortfall — an idea the fort later abandoned. With the legislation that the regents helped draft now in limbo, the board plans to make permanent the emergency regulations. However, some of the city’s largest museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, operate under legislative charters so are not governed by its regulations.

According to the Times, museums often sell or “deaccession” artworks, but generally direct the proceeds toward acquiring other pieces. The sense of urgency to regulate the process has been spurred by several factors, including the decision by Brandeis University to close its Rose Art Museum last year. In May, the Massachusetts-based university said it was working with Sotheby’s to make money by lending works from the collection or entering into partnerships with other institutions.

Although many in the museum world believe selling art to pay expenses is a misuse of funds that jeopardizes preserving cultural heritage as a public trust, the proposed legislation would have imposed rules beyond the logistic or financial scope of many organizations. After hearing feedback from cultural institutions, the bill’s Senate sponsor, José M. Serrano, withdrew his support. “We all saw that a one-size-fits-all approach was not going to work,” Serrano told the Times. “I didn’t think that we would be able to make wholesale changes to the bill that would make it palatable for everyone.”