December 16, 2015

From: Isaac Brown, Legislative Counsel
Vol. 15:16

Late last night, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that Congress had reached a deal with the Obama administration on legislation funding the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2016. The legislation calls for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to be funded at $147.9 million, an increase of almost $2 million over the agency’s FY2015 level. The fact that Congress chose to increase funding for the agency in this highly partisan environment demonstrates the tremendous progress that has been made to educate members of both parties about the value of federal support for the arts.

With the deal now reached by leadership, rank-and-file members are expected to have until late Thursday, at the earliest, to consider the legislation before voting on passage. Therefore we encourage you to reach out to your elected officials in Congress and urge them to support this budget deal. In doing so, please thank them for their support for the NEA and remind them that 40% of grant dollars appropriated to the NEA go directly to state arts agencies.

As events unfold, NASAA will continue to keep you updated.