March was an exciting month for the arts and state arts agencies. ArtsWA Executive Director Karen Hanan was invited by Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), a member of House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (which has jurisdiction over the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts [NEA]), to testify before the panel.…
Arts advocates from all over the country are making plans to travel to Washington, D.C., for Arts Advocacy Day, March 23-24, to make the case to Congress for the arts in federal policy. This year’s event comes at an ideal time. President Obama submitted his budget proposal to Congress in early February, in which he…
On Monday, February 2, President Obama submitted his budget proposal for fiscal year 2016, which begins on October 1. The president’s budget, which is not binding but is an important indicator of the administration’s policy priorities, includes robust funding for transportation projects, tax credits to low- and middle-income Americans, and suggestions for paying for those…
Last Tuesday, the nation’s 114th Congress was sworn into office. As outlined in this column last month, the Republicans’ sweeping electoral success in November gives the party control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2006. That win also allows Republicans the opportunity to set the agenda in Congress, and although it…
Following a tense week of negotiations, the Republican-led House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate were able to agree on legislation last weekend that funds all federal agencies except for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the remainder of fiscal year 2015. (DHS received a three-month extension of funding.) That vote, which relied upon…
Following a very short work period in September, the House and Senate adjourned on September 18 to allow members to return to their home districts and states to ramp up campaign activity. 2014 is an election year, and all 435 members of the House of Representatives, as well as a third (33) of the Senate,…
Following a month-long recess, Congress returned to session on September 8 for what is expected to be a two- to three-week work period before adjourning for this November’s election. Given that limited window of time, Republican and Democratic leadership has made the decision to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating when the…
Congress adjourned for the summer last week, and is not expected to return until September 8. It is then expected to have 12 working days in Washington before the current federal budget expires on October 1. As a result, it is looking likely that Congress will have to pass a continuing resolution, which maintains existing…
June marked an exciting period for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as Dr. Jane Chu’s nomination to lead the agency was approved by the U.S. Senate. The NEA has operated without a chair since December 2012. In that time, the agency has had to navigate another round of funding cuts related to sequestration,…
After several months with little progress, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee met in May and approved the nomination of Dr. Jane Chu to lead the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). During the confirmation process, it was important to NASAA that the principle of 40% of NEA grant funding being mandated for state…
12 / 21