On July 12, the House Interior Appropriations Committee, which has under its jurisdiction funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, adopted its budget appropriations bill for FY2018 (Oct 1, 2017 – Sept 30, 2018).
The NEA budget is set at $145 million in the Interior Appropriations bill.
This represents a $5 million cut to current NEA funding levels, and a $10 million cut from a request made and supported by a record number of bipartisan Congressional leaders.
However, this funding goes against the proposal made by President Trump to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts.
This budget proposal is the first authoritative step in the federal budget process. From here, the full Appropriations Committee will vote on a budget bill before it heads to the full House of Representatives. Additionally, the Senate Appropriations Committee will most likely have its full budget proposal early this fall ready to go.
Note: No House Representative from South Carolina sits on House Appropriations, however Senator Lindsey Graham does serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee. When appropriate advocacy work is needed in the full House or in the Senate Appropriations Committee, we’ll let you know!
This initial vote funding the NEA shows that the support for the arts in Congress is bipartisan.
We’ll keep you posted as the budget process moves forward.
