Urge House Not to Reduce NEA FY2024 Funding

Last month, the Biden administration sent to Congress its fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, which included an increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) of $4 million, to $211 million. While not a binding document, the President’s recommendations are taken seriously, and send an important message about the priorities of the administration for the coming year. The submission of the document is also considered the beginning of the appropriations process, and the House and Senate committees are already hard at work developing their bills for each federal agency.

While we won’t know for sure until its budget bill is released, we continue to hear from supporters on Capitol Hill that the House of Representatives version will likely include a reduction in funding for the agency. We believe strongly that this proposed cut is not a statement about the views of either party in that chamber about the value of federal of funding for the arts, but rather a pragmatic measure based on the pressure members of that committee are under to introduce a bill that lowers domestic spending.

This pressure to lower overall domestic spending means that our work this year will be absolutely critical. We know that support for the National Endowment for the Arts remains strong and bipartisan, so it is incumbent upon us to provide these members with information about the value that comes from federal support for the agency. As soon as the House’s legislation is released, we strongly urge you to contact your representatives in the House with these messages:

Thank them for supporting increasing the NEA’s budget this year.
Urge them to oppose the House proposed figure, and instead to support the President’s request of $211 million. In doing so, remind them that 40% of the NEA’s grant funding is reallocated to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations.
Emphasize that public funding for arts and creativity is a high-return investment that benefits every American in every city, town and rural community nationwide. (See Arts and Creativity Strengthen Our Nation for additional talking points.)
Provide a tangible example of how funding from the federal government has enabled your state arts agency to provide additional funding or programing for their community.

These points will be very helpful in providing members of Congress with supportive arguments they can use to urge their colleagues to maintain and possibly increase funding for the NEA next year. For our part, we continue to meet with members of Congress and staff as well, and are happy to be of assistance as you think about the best messages to share with your elected officials in Washington.