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Congress finally reached a compromise on the federal government's annual budget for FY 2022, which is more than five months late. With all 13 appropriation bills pulled into one large Omnibus bill totaling $1.3 trillion, this all-encompassing bill includes everything from Ukraine relief aid and military spending to agriculture, roads, health, and arts appropriations.
ARTS & CULTURE FUNDING IN THE FEDERAL OMNIBUS BILL
The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities will each receive an historic high of $180 million, while this represents a $12.5 million increase from last year, it’s much less than what we expected or needed.
There was no new additional COVID-19 economic relief funding for the SBA. The Save Our Stages Extension bill was also not included in the Omnibus. For those of you waiting for Congress to pass an SVOG deadline extension to use federal grant funds to pay for expenses incurred until March 2023, that is now looking unlikely. A determined group of bipartisan Senators and House members still want to pass a stand-alone COVID-19 relief bill to provide funds to support live venues, specifically restaurants and gyms, that never received SBA funds last year. While this is another possible bill that the SOS Extension Act could be attached to, it’s very hard to imagine this bill passing through both chambers of Congress before June 30, 2022.
We will be sharing more in the coming weeks on other arts funding provisions that are buried in the 2,741-page Omnibus bill and its complex series of committee reports, which include millions of dollars in federal earmark funds for arts related projects in communities across the country. Examples of congressional earmark funding for the arts and culture include $3 million for the Brooklyn Museum of African Collections; $1 million for the Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison, Wisconsin; and approximately $3 million for Arts and STEM enrichment programs in various Chicago public schools. For more information on securing earmarks in the future, please visit the Americans for the Arts Bookstore and download the FREE Earmarks Federal Resource Guide.
2022 ARTS POLICY VOTE
Reminder to all Arts Action Fund members, please cast your 2022 Arts Policy Vote by Friday, March 28, 2022! This vote will direct how the Arts Action Fund will use its time and resources to advocate for federal policies to support the arts and artists across the country. Together, we have and will continue to make a difference. Please review the 2022 arts policy platform below and cast your vote on these four positions. Once you vote, we will also automatically extend your Arts Action Fund membership another year.
NATIONAL ARTS ACTION SUMMIT 2022 (Registration is FREE!)
Grassroots advocates across the country will convene virtually on March 28-30, 2022 at the National Arts Action Summit (NAAS), to learn the latest in federal arts legislation through issue-specific briefings and advocacy trainings. Over these three days, you’ll gain a depth of knowledge from policy experts at Americans for the Arts and our many national, state, and local partners. Register for FREE on ArtsU.
- Learn the latest research facts and figures on the arts to help make your case.
- Strategize with experienced advocates on how to make the case for the arts and arts education.
- Connect with your members of Congress and build a relationship that will lead to better representation for the arts at the federal level.
- Network with fellow arts advocates from across the country and get connected with your Federal Arts Advocacy Captain to learn about year-round advocacy opportunities.
SHUTTERED VENUE OPERATORS GRANT (SVOG) UPDATE
The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that several new SVOG updates will be announced by the end of March, including the following:
- Reorganizing SBA professional staff to become specialists by grantee entity type and geographic areas
- Assigning SBA specialists to each SVOG grantee
- Announcing a series of SVOG Office Hours to assist grantees on completing Final Budget Action Items
- Expanding Supplemental Grant eligibility to use 2021 Quarters 3 and 4 to qualify for a Supplemental grant
- Setting a goal to complete outstanding Reconsideration 2.0 applications
JOIN MY BIWEEKLY ZOOM OFFICE HOURS THIS FRIDAY @ 11:00 a.m. ET
You can ask me any of your federal COVID-19 relief questions during my Zoom Office Hours. The next one will be tomorrow, Friday, March 11 @ 11:00 a.m. ET. Use this Zoom Meeting link to join the call.