Connect with Congress on NEA Funding

When the federal government partially shut down, the 116th Congress began its term under unusual circumstances, forced to deal with complicated negotiations from day one. Now that the government has completely reopened, congressional leadership is working simultaneously both to find a solution that will fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year (the […]

You Can Connect with Congress Despite Shutdown

Last week the new session of Congress, which included 101 new members of the House of Representatives and 10 new senators, was sworn into office. While leaders in both parties have major initiatives, the most immediate issue facing this new crew is an old one. The partial shutdown of the government, which began on December […]

Continuing Resolution May Continue…

With the 2018 midterm elections finally resolved and members of Congress from both parties thinking about 2019 and beyond, the one sentiment that appears to be unifying legislators from both parties is their desire to wrap up their work and adjourn for the remainder of the year. Despite this unifying preference, at the time of […]

Congress Focuses on Midterms

A central goal for congressional leadership this year was to be able to complete work on all 12 appropriations bills, through regular order, before the fiscal year ended on September 30. This was an ambitious goal, as work on the fiscal year 2018 budget was not wrapped until late March, putting members of Congress about […]

NEA FY2019 Increase Waits in the Wings

The House and Senate returned to session last week, after adjourning in August for the summer recess. They come back for an uncertain period of time, as the midterm elections are approaching and members from both parties want to head home for as long as possible to campaign for themselves and their colleagues. There are, […]

The Likelihood of an FY2019 NEA Funding Increase

As we reported last week, the Senate passed legislation that would increase the appropriation for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) by $2 million, to $155 million, for fiscal year 2019. That action matched that of the House of Representatives, which voted for the same earlier this summer. While these moves put the NEA […]

NEA Well-Positioned As Congress Progresses on Appropriations

With the July 4th recess in the rear-view mirror and the midterm elections only four months away, members of the House and Senate expect to be working furiously over the next few months. So much work is left on the agenda that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already announced his intention to cancel […]

Congress Affirms Support for NEA

Following the Memorial Day recess, Congress returned to session with a full agenda of must-pass bills it would like to tackle. Perhaps indicative of this full slate, the work period began with an announcement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that most of the August recess would be canceled to allow the Senate more […]

Congress Gears Up for Appropriations Push

Following a busy work period that included passing a large federal spending package that increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to $153 million, members of the House and Senate are currently out of session and are spending time in their districts. When they return on Monday, members of both chambers are […]

Arts Advocacy Opportunities

With Arts Advocacy Day only a few days away, we are at a critical point in time here in Washington. At this moment, members of Congress are working feverishly to wrap up work on fiscal year 2018 appropriations legislation while simultaneously beginning the process for FY2019. Because our champions on the Hill have a lot […]