Success! NEA Gets $155 Million!

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.