August 1, 2022
From: Isaac Brown, Legislative Counsel
Vol. 22:05

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its draft interior appropriations bill, which includes funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). That bill proposes increasing funding for the agency by $15 million, for a total of $195 million. While this figure is lower than the figure approved by the House of Representatives, it is nonetheless an important statement of support for the Arts Endowment.

With Congress set to go on recess soon, August is an excellent time to contact your senators, thank them for the proposed increase and encourage them to consider increasing their figure to match the House’s. In doing so, please reiterate that 40% of all grant funding allocated to the NEA goes directly to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations, and consequently, any additional increase in appropriations will benefit their states.