August 1, 2018
From: Isaac Brown, Legislative Counsel
Vol. 18:09

This afternoon, the Senate voted to approve legislation funding the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) at $155 million for fiscal year 2019. That amount matches the level of funding allocated to the agency in the bill passed in the House of Representatives earlier this summer. As a result, the NEA is in position to receive a $2 million increase in funding. We are grateful for this strong showing of bipartisan support for the arts, particularly in light of the fact that the President once again urged Congress to support eliminating the NEA in his budget proposal to Congress earlier.

Now that the bill has passed, members from both chambers will meet in conference to try to negotiate differences that exist between the two bills that are unrelated to the arts. NASAA will continue to monitor those negotiations and will report back to you when we have more information. In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your hard work on behalf of the NEA this year. I have no doubt it was critical in achieving today’s result.