Legislative News - 2018
Read the latest arts news
For arts stakeholders, the public comment period is a keen opportunity to put forward a request for the Community Reinvestment Act to increase its support of arts-based community development and creative placemaking.
Arts North Carolina launched a new legislative campaign in early 2018 that aims to increase state arts grants by nearly 60%, from $6.3 million to $10 million; and collaborated on the creation of the Caucus for the Arts and Arts Education in the NC House of Representatives.
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!
Under the leadership of Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Ranking Member Betty McCollum (D-MN), both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are proposed at $155 million for FY 2019 in the U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee bill, a $2 million increase from 2018.
Arizona Citizens for the Arts rallied its advocates over Governor Doug Ducey's plan to eliminate $2 million in funding for arts grants, and the state legislature and governor heard from over 1,000 constituents speaking out against zeroing out state arts funding.
Partnering with Oklahoma A+ Schools, Oklahoma Art Education Association, and the Oklahoma Alliance for Arts Education, hundreds of arts and arts education advocates came to promote arts education funding on April 11 within the bigger picture of the Oklahoma teacher walkout.
The U.S. Department of Education announced a new round of grants for the newly-named “Assistance for Arts Education Development & Dissemination” grant program. In total, about $14 million will be awarded to 20-25 grantees, each receiving about $575,000 per year during their 4 year project cycle.
At a special Capitol Hill reception on April 18 to honor and remember former Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), hosted by Americans for the Arts in conjunction with the Congressional Arts Caucus, U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) as the next co-chair of the Arts Caucus.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s proposal stands in stark contrast to his proposed spending plan last year, in which he proposed to cut city arts funding by $4.7 million—a 31 percent decrease—that drew protests from San Diego’s arts and cultural community.