March 4, 2024
From: Isaac Brown, Legislative Counsel
Vol. 24:01

Once again, Congress was able to avert a partial government shutdown last week when members of the House and Senate were able to agree on a short-term continuing resolution that extends current funding levels for all federal agencies for several weeks. While far from ideal, the hope is that this most recent short-term extension will give members of Congress time to finally agree on a long-term funding bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2024.

Over the weekend, the House Appropriations Committee released its proposal to fund some federal agencies until the end of the fiscal year. That bill would maintain level funding for the National Endowment for the Arts at $207 million. If passed, this would mark a significant victory for arts advocates, as you may recall that the House originally proposed funding the agency with a 10% cut.

As you might imagine, negotiations continue to be quite intense, and while the release of this draft legislation is significant, it is only the first step and does not guarantee passage. We at NASAA will keep you posted as developments unfold. It is our understanding that Congress aims to approve the appropriations bill sometime this week.