Urge Congress to Support Arts & Culture

UPDATE 2/21/2011: The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Continuing Resolution, and is up for consideration in the Senate next after Congress returns from the weeklong Presidents' Day recess.  We urge you to continue reaching out to Senators.

UPDATE 2/18/11: Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment introduced by Representative Tim Walberg (R-MI) to the appropriations Continuing Resolution, which severely reduces current year funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.  The vote adds an additional $20.5 million cut on top of an already recommended $22.5 million reduction for the NEA.  If the House completes its work on this appropriations legislation today, the NEA's FY 2011 budget will have been cut by 26%, or down to $124.5 million from $167.5 million, making it the deepest cut to the agency in sixteen years.

This week, the US House of Representatives will bring to the floor a Continuing Resolution (CR) appropriations package that proposes to cut dozens of federal agencies and programs for the balance of the current 2011 fiscal year (March 5 through September 30).  Last week, the House Appropriations Committee revealed what some of the details of this package, and they include significant cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Community Development Block Grants, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  It is also possible that additional amendments to further cut or completely eliminate these programs will be introduced on the floor this week.

While these actions are centered in the House, it's also important to reach out to the Senate, where it is expected that proposals to fund these programs will be at higher funding levels.  Please take a moment to send a letter to your Representative and Senators to stress the importance of arts and culture in our region.