December 18, 2007

Last night, the U.S. House gave preliminary approval to an "Omnibus" appropriations bill for FY 2008 providing funding for about $474 billion in domestic spending programs.  The Senate began considering this legislation today.  With the President's expected signature later this week, the bill will provide about $145 million for the National Endowment for the Arts - a $20 million increase over last year's funding. Arts education and public broadcasting programs are slated to receive modest increases over last year's levels and the federal museum office will see a slight decrease in funding.

National Endowment for the Arts

Through this legislation, the National Endowment for the Arts is expected to receive a 16% increase - the largest given to the agency in 30 years!

The effort to achieve this funding increase has been built over the course of several years. Advocates like yourself have been attending the annual Arts Advocacy Day or actively contacting their Members of Congress calling on them to restore the NEA to the strength it once had in the mid-‘90's.

Our cause on Capitol Hill, led by Congressional Arts Caucus co-chairs Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Chris Shays (R-CT), was championed earlier this year by House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA) as he held, on Arts Advocacy Day, the first hearing on arts funding in twelve years. Americans for the Arts was called on by Chairman Dicks to organize the hearing and present a panel of witnesses that included Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert Lynch, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis and a number of other arts leaders.  The hearing focused on the role of creativity and innovation in the arts and highlighted research outlining the tremendous impact that federal investment in the arts can have.

In June, Congresswoman Slaughter led the U.S. House to reject three amendments specifically designed to cut funding for the NEA, and instead approve a giant leap forward in NEA funding.  During the floor consideration, Americans for the Arts advocates from 50 states sent over 26,000 messages to their Members calling on them to support an increase for the NEA!

Through negotiations with the Senate and the White House, the $145 million will provide for more direct grants to arts organizations around the country and increase the reach of the agency's national initiatives.

National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is set to receive $145 million, an increase of about $4 million.

Arts Education
Funding for arts education at the U.S. Department of Education will receive a slight increase to about $38 million, from $35.3 million. The bulk of this increase is intended to provide funding for administering the first national survey since 1999 on the status and condition of arts education - a key element of our advocacy agenda!

Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the federal agency that provides support to our national public broadcasting network saw their annual budget increased from $400 million to $420 million for FY 2010. CPB is typically provided funding in advance due to the long range planning they must do.

Museum Programs
The Office of Museum Services within the Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS) is slated to receive about $31.2 million, which is about a $556,000 decrease from what it received in FY 2007 funding.

What's Next:
Passage of the Omnibus legislation will bring to an end the FY 2008 appropriations cycle. Due to the numerous veto threats made on most of the 13 appropriations bills, it took longer than expected for Congress to finish their work. At the end of this week, the House and Senate will recess until mid-January. The President is scheduled to give the State of the Union on January 28, 2008 and the FY 2009 budget will be announced in early February. Americans for the Arts will provide full details on the FY09 budget when released.

Happy Holidays!