policy and advocacy
Legislative Update
Follow the links below for the latest updates on some of the major federal activities pertaining to the arts. You may write your members of Congress on any of these issues by visiting our E-Advocacy Center.
Further details on our policy positions are provided through our issue briefs.
Operational Resources | Federal Arts Funding | Arts Education Policy
Federal Tax Policy | Artist Visa Immigration
Transportation Enhancements & Public Art | House and Senate Caucuses
- Currently on the House Floor
- Senate Floor Information (see right side of the page for today's schedule)
- 2012 Congressional Schedule (dates subject to change)
- Congressional Arts Caucus Roster
- Senate Cultural Caucus
National Endowment for the Arts Funding
The 2012 fiscal year drew to a close with Congress passing and the president signing a massive nine-bill omnibus resolution that contained all the unfinished appropriations measures that were supposed to have been considered by October 1, 2011. The NEA saw its funding reduced to $146.2 million, a drop from the FY 2011 number of $155 million. This number represents what the president had requested in his budget, which is more than the House had asked for and less than a Senate had proposed in their respective subcommittees. The National Endowment for the Humanities also was budgeted at $146.2 million.
Funding for the Institute for Library and Museum Services, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Smithsonian and other federally supported cultural institutions and agencies remained relatively level-funded.
The FY 2013 process will get underway in mid-February when President Obama is schedule to release his budget proposal to Congress.
Arts Education Funding
The federal Arts in Education program weathered significant funding challenges in 2011, and was the only program at the U.S. Department of Education to be terminated in FY 2011 through a continuing resolution in March 2011 and then partially restored in the final continuing resolution in April. For FY 2012, the Arts in Education program ultimately received $24.593 million to administer and support competitive grants and national initiatives at the U.S. Department of Education, a decrease from the $27.447 million administered by the Department in FY 2011.
Throughout 2011, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has stated that he has consistently heard about the narrowing of the curriculum during his trips across the country and the administration is committed to strengthening arts education opportunities in the future. The administration offered an introductory reauthorization proposal called the "Blueprint," and is now administering a process for states to apply for waivers to remove much of the onerous NCLB regulations in exchange for taking specific policy steps.
In May, the “Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act” (HR 1891) was introduced for the purpose of eliminating 43 existing federal education programs, including Arts in Education, within the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). This would eliminate the only discrete arts education program funded by the USDE. An amendment sponsored by Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Susan Davis (D-CA), David Wu (D-WA) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) sought to restore those specific program activities but was defeated on a party line vote. On September 15, 2011, four Senators introduced similar legislation, S.1567, that seeks to consolidate education programs as well – but no action on either Senate or House bill is expected any time soon.
The reauthorization of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act is now long overdue. This body of federal education policy, last authorized in 2002 (as “No Child Left Behind”) has resulted in a narrowing of the curriculum and arts education has struggled to remain in many schools across the country. On October 19th & 20th the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved the Senate version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill, co-authored by HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY). Americans for the Arts lobbied on several of these issues on behalf of its members and further details on the policy elements of this legislation can be found here.
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The IRA Charitable Rollover, which permits tax-free charitable contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) of up to $100,000 per year for taxpayers 70.5 years old expired on January 1, 2012 after a year-long extension. This popular provision has been rumored to be a top priority of the Second Session of Congress to pass as an extension and make it retroactive to the lapse date. Legislation that would permanently enact the IRA Rollover and remove the contribution and age caps was re-introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Olympia Snowe (ME) and Charles Schumer (NY) as S. 557 in the 112th Session of Congress. .
The Artist-Museum Partnership Act, legislation that would allow creators of original works to deduct the fair-market value of self-created works given to and retained by a nonprofit collecting institution was recently reintroduced in the U.S. House by longtime champions Reps. John Lewis (GA) and Todd Platts (PA) as HR 1190. It would encourage gifts of visual art such as paintings and sculptures, as well as original manuscripts and supporting material created by composers, authors, and choreographers. Last year’s co-sponsorship was a healthy 93 Members in the House and 23 Members in the Senate.
Both the IRA Rollover and the Artist Deduction legislation maintained broad bipartisan support in the both the House and Senate but prospects for further consideration are complicated by election-year scheduling and politics where any issue dealing with taxes will most likely be the focus of intense scrutiny.
Artist Visa Immigration Update
The Arts Require Timely Service (ARTS) Act, H.R. 1785 and S.1409 in the last Congress, would require the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to expedite nonprofit arts-related organizations visa petitions, Although the bills have not been reintroduced in the 112th Congress, the previous bill in the House was sponsored by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) and the Senate bill by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Its advocates have been working with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration agency to file comments and provide direct feedback on O and P visa processing.
Transportation Enhancement Program & Public Art
The Transportation Enhancement program (TE), funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation and administered by state transportation agencies through competitive grants, may be undergoing legislative changes. The TE program is important to the arts sector because of the funding made available locally for public art, museums, design and historic preservation projects.
On November 9, 2011, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee led a markup of a two-year surface transportation bill named "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century" or MAP-21. The committee approved the bill unanimously.
The $83.8 billion measure (S.1813) would retain the Transportation Enhancement program that has become a favorite target of some Republicans. But a major overhaul would expand the variety of work that could be funded—in some cases including planning, design, and construction of new roads. States would be permitted to spend enhancement money currently set aside for 12 categories such as bicycle and pedestrian paths, historical preservation, and environmental mitigation on other projects such as high-occupancy vehicle lanes or other "congestion reduction activities that increase the efficiency of the existing road network." The bill narrows the funding eligibility for transportation museums, and "landscaping or scenic beautification," both types of projects that drew strong criticism during recent Senate floor debate.
Both Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) are planning to offer floor amendments to address aspects of the changes to the TE program. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee considered their version of the legislation on February 2, 2012. Congress will need to approve a reauthorization by March 31, when the current authorization expires. For a more detailed update on this issue, please read this memo from the Government & Public Affairs staff.
House and Senate Arts Caucuses
Congressional Arts Caucus
The Congressional Arts Caucus (CAC), chaired by Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Todd Platts (R-PA), added new member Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-MI) bringing its current total to 186.
Senate Cultural Caucus
The Senate Cultural Caucus is led by two co-chairs: Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) . The caucus now has 35 members total.