Late on December 21, the U.S. House and Senate passed a new $900 billion Coronavirus Economic Relief Agreement along with the fiscal year (FY) 2021 Omnibus Appropriations bill to keep the government funded through September 2021. This huge combination bill was passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis.
On Friday, May 15, the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives voted on passage of a $3 trillion COVID-19 relief aid package titled the HEROES Act. While the Republican-led Senate and the White House have indicated they are not interested in passing another COVID-19 relief package yet, there will likely be some key components of this bill that arts advocates would like to see survive a negotiated House-Senate relief compromise package.
Last week, a letter signed by 140 chambers of commerce from 39 states across the country was delivered to Congressional leadership in support of federal relief for the nonprofit arts and cultural community. This letter was generated by a small group of chambers and distributed by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) and Americans for the Arts.
Late last night, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed (96-0) the third phase of the coronavirus (COVID-19) response relief package. This vital piece of legislation includes direct support for both nonprofit cultural organizations and state and local arts and humanities agencies, as well as economic relief provisions for independent contractors, "gig economy" workers and artists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses working in the creative economy.
Americans for the Arts has released the fall update to our federal legislative priorities. This one-page update and advocacy tool includes a new section on Arts & Health featuring the Dignity in Aging Act.
Americans for the Arts has been pursuing more federal legislative priorities this year than ever before. To help track the various federal legislative priorities we have released a one-page update and advocacy tool.
As you may have seen in this week's headlines, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a two-year budget agreement that will pave the way for federal appropriations bills to be completed later this fall. Without this budget agreement in place, it was unlikely we'd see any of the $12.5 million increase included in a House bill for the National Endowment for the Arts, or the $6 million increase for arts education.
The U.S House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee strongly rejected President Trump's budget request to eliminate both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by appropriating $167.5 million in funding for FY 2020, an increase for both agencies of $12.5 million.
While the full outcome of yesterday's election is still coming in, there are some key results that we can report on with more details to come in our post-election impact on the arts webinar on November 19 at 3:00 p.m.
The U.S. Senate has just passed their Interior Appropriations bill for FY 2019 including $155 million for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities!
The U.S. House of Representatives soundly defeated an amendment that would have cut funding the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The House voted down the Grothman amendment by a vote of 114 – 297! This is one of the largest margins of support for the Endowments in the U.S. House!
Yesterday, the House Rules Committee green-lighted an amendment sponsored by Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI). His amendment would cut funding to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) by $23 million each – a 15% cut to each agency.
In a return to “regular order,” this week the U.S. House is scheduled to vote on the bill that funds the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)!
Floor votes on these appropriations bills have been rarer in recent years, and even more so in the U.S. Senate. However, quick action by both the House and Senate is expected these next two weeks!
On June 14, 2018, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved their bill to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for FY 2019 by another $2 million, raising the proposed FY 2019 funding to $155 million. This bill passed with a vote of 31-0, making it a truly bipartisan effort. This matches the U.S. House Appropriations proposal of $155 million.
On June 6, 2018 the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) at $155 million for FY 2019, a $2 million increase. This proposed funding affirmed the House subcommittee’s action in May and meets the ask of advocates from Arts Advocacy Day 2018.
