March 15, 2017
From: Isaac Brown, Legislative Counsel

This morning, President Trump submitted his administration’s first budget request to Congress.The proposal calls for an elimination of all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in fiscal year 2018.

If this budget is enacted, the elimination of the NEA would have dire consequences for every state. For a synopsis of what’s at stake, please see NASAA’s Statement on Proposed Elimination of the NEA, issued early this morning.

This is the first—not the final—step in the FY2018 appropriations process. The President’s request outlines his administration’s policy priorities. However, Congress holds the constitutional authority to appropriate funds to federal agencies. Congress needs to hear from you that elimination of or radical reductions to the NEA are unacceptable to taxpayers.

NASAA has been preparing for months for this scenario. As Congress begins work on its own budget bills, we are already working with champions on Capitol Hill to deploy a bipartisan strategy for pushing back. Here’s how you, your council members and constituents can help right now:

• Contact your House and Senate delegations. Urge them to oppose the President’s request and provide full funding for the NEA.
• See if your state is represented on either the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee or the Senate Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. If so, your outreach to these committee members will be especially influential.
• Remind your delegation that 40% of the grant dollars appropriated to the NEA go to states and regions. These funds address state priorities. Rural and low-income areas would be disproportionally hurt by the elimination of the agency.
• Use your social media channels to propagate this legislative alert, Fact vs. Fiction: Government Arts Funding and Five Essential Arts Arguments.

A reminder about fiscal years: Recall that state Partnership Agreement funds from the NEA are typically committed in March and used in the following state fiscal year. So today’s proposal to eliminate the NEA in federal FY2018 would affect most states’ FY2019 activities.

As events unfold, NASAA will keep you up to date. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate tocontact me if you have any questions.