July 6, 2020
From: Isaac Brown, Legislative Counsel
Vol. 20:06

This afternoon, in advance of a hearing tomorrow, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the National Endowment for Arts budget, released its proposed fiscal year 2021 budget bill. The bill proposes funding the Endowment at $170 million, an increase of $7.5 million over the agency’s current level. We at NASAA are thrilled about this news, as it matches the request we and other national arts service organizations made to Congress. We are especially appreciative because the current health and economic crisis posed by COVID-19 places a tremendous strain on every dollar of federal funding.

Tomorrow, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee is expected to meet and approve the bill. Therefore, if you have time before 11:00 a.m. Eastern tomorrow (when the subcommittee meets), please consider reaching out to members of the committee to stress the following:

1. Thank them for the committee’s support for the National Endowment for Arts.
2. Urge the member to support the federal-state partnership, which allocates 40% of the Arts Endowment’s grant funding to state and regional arts organizations.
3. Highlight a new program or service undertaken by your agency—underscoring how federal funding to the National Endowment for the Arts makes this type of programming possible.

After the subcommittee approves the bill tomorrow, the full Appropriations Committee is expected to consider and approve the bill by the end of the week, putting this legislation on track for passage in the House of Representatives by the end of the month.