Senator Coleman has set a deadline of September 29, so it is important to act now. Your Senator needs to hear from constituents back home to cosign this letter - please take two minutes to help ensure greater federal support for the arts and humanities. Increased funding for the NEA and NEH will allow the two agencies to make more grants to local cultural organizations across the country, bringing more arts and humanities into the lives of every American. By way of background, the NEA is currently funded at $124.4 million, and the NEH receives $141 million.  Funding for both agencies was cut drastically in the mid-1990s.  Since 2001, however, with the help of arts advocates, their budgets have enjoyed modest increases.  Please help us continue the growth trend in the arts and humanities budgets - write your Senators and urge them to sign the letter to increase NEA and NEH funding. We've provided a prewritten, fully customizable letter for you, as well as numerous talking points to help you illustrate your case. 

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We encourage you to forward this message on to friends and colleagues who may be interested in these important arts issues. If you have any questions, please contact Justin Beland, Government Affairs and Grassroots Manager, at jbeland@artsusa.org.