Finished! Almost two months beyond the expected delivery date, the U.S. Congress and President Trump have completed their work on FY 2019 federal appropriations.
Today, President Trump signed legislation that included a $155 million funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts. This amount, a $2 million increase over last year, was made possible by House and Senate appropriations committees on a bipartisan basis throughout the appropriations cycle last year, even surviving a vote on the House floor to cut the agency by 15%. That vote failed by a 183-vote margin.
Final approval of the FY 2019 appropriations bills was delayed due to a partial government shutdown and border security negotiations.
Looking forward, a new Congress has begun and Americans for the Arts is preparing for the National Arts Action Summit and Arts Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill (March 4-5). At the Summit, hundreds of grassroots arts advocates will be putting forward a new funding request to Congress for the NEA at $167.5 million, in addition to a dozen other policy requests covering tax, education, technology, and the creative economy.