President’s FY2015 Budget Includes Level Funding for the NEA
From: Isaac Brown, Legislative Counsel
Vol. 14:04
March 4, 2014
This morning, President Obama released his fiscal year 2015 budget proposal to Congress. The plan proposes increasing federal spending by more than $600 billion to fund key administration priorities, including universal preschool programs, the National Institutes of Health, transportation and infrastructure projects, and climate change mitigation and research. While not completely paid for, some of the costs are offset by imposing a new tax on wealthy Americans and reducing the level of payment for health care providers under Medicaid and Medicare.
In the budget proposal, the Obama administration recommends funding the National Endowment for the Arts at $146.021 million, the agency’s current funding level. Although this number is below the $155 million NASAA and other arts organizations will ask Congress for later this month during Arts Advocacy Day, we are pleased that the administration did not propose a cut in funding, given that sequestration (which statutorily lowers federal spending) remains in effect until fiscal year 2021.
It is important to remember that the president’s proposal is not binding, but rather is a policy communication in which the administration identifies its priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. With the proposal released, Congress will now get to work on writing the FY2015 budget.
As this work begins, I encourage you to contact members of your House and Senate delegation and urge them to support funding the NEA at $155 million for FY2015:
A NASAA web seminar taking place March 18, Federal Budget Briefing, will inform members about details of the president’s FY2015 proposal and will outline other federal issues relevant to the arts. Look for today’s e-mail invitation or register now.