Before the debt ceiling debate claimed center stage on Capitol Hill at the end of July, the House of Representatives had voted down one amendment aimed at eliminating all funds for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and a second intent on cutting the arts appropriations back by $10 million (the Walberg amendment). Both…
What do you say about legislators with a popularity rating in the single When our supporters in Congress talk about the importance of the arts in the lives of Americans, they always mention the value of the arts in education. Indeed, there is no partisan disagreement when it comes to the educational worth of the…
Typically, the Appropriations Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives begins drafting its legislation in early June and sends the funding bills to the floor for votes by the middle of the month. The Senate usually follows suit, taking up its versions of the appropriations measures in committee in late June and early July. Last…
In the same week that Congress completed the long debate over 2011 spending and voted final passage of a continuing resolution to complete the current fiscal year’s appropriations, the House of Representatives took up its version of the 2012 budget resolution, passing the measure on April 15 on a party-line vote with all Democrats (and…
The House of Representatives is set to vote on April 13 on the final spending agreement reached the week before by the president with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders in time to avoid a government shutdown. To allow time to lay out the details of the appropriations legislation to finish out the 2011 fiscal year,…
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate continue to negotiate funding for the 2011 fiscal year. The first week in March, both chambers passed another short-term continuing resolution to extend funding for the current fiscal year until March 18. This measure, essentially continuing appropriations at the 2010 levels, includes $4 billion in cuts demanded by…
On February 14, President Obama is scheduled to send to Congress his budget proposal for the 2012 fiscal year. With attention focused since the November election on reducing spending levels and cutting the size of the federal budget deficit, reductions in funds are expected to show up throughout the administration’s budget. As Congress begins deliberations…
Congress Kicks FY2011 Funding Decisions into 2011 On December 21, President Obama signed yet another continuing resolution—the fourth so far in this new fiscal year—carrying appropriations for all federal programs through March 4, 2011, essentially at 2010 funding levels. An effort to move ahead with an omnibus appropriations measure for the entire year that included…
Congress Postpones Funding Decisions to a Lame Duck Session The House and Senate returned from the August recess on September 14, and with just two weeks left before adjournment, there was little time—and even less political will—to accomplish much. As has happened in recent years, Congress did not finish with appropriations bills before the start…
The House and Senate were in recess for the month of August. Senators and representatives will return to Washington on September 14 to resume legislative work. Before breaking for the August recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2011 funding for the U.S. Department of Education, setting appropriations for the arts in education…
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