Legislative Update:
Several U.S. House of Representatives key appropriations subcommittees took action this month with markups of their FY 2025 appropriations bills. You can view our FY 2025 Appropriations Chart below to see how federal arts and arts education programs have fared thus far in the current legislative process, which is far from over.
Like last year, the House starts off with lower budget allocations, but these numbers will improve once the Senate begins their markups for FY 2025. Additionally, House Freedom Caucus members continue to add conservative social riders to the bills once they hit the floor to block funds for DEI, LGBTQIA+, and abortion issues. These types of social riders will not be adopted by the Senate.
NEA and NEH Funding:
Initial House funding for the arts and humanities fared relatively well today. The House Interior Appropriations bill will be going to the floor in July with a very small cut of 1.5% each to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The House allocated $203.895 million each for NEA and NEH for FY 2025, while current FY 2024 funding is at $207 million each.
Next Steps:
We believe we’ll secure a higher number in the Senate. In the meantime, we need to remain vigilant, as we did last year, to defeat any weakening House floor amendments attempting to cut further funding in July. Please take two minutes to send a customizable message to your House members to vote NO against any budget weakening amendments to NEA and NEH funding in the FY 2025 Interior Appropriations bill.
Status of the FY 25 Federal Arts Appropriations (updated as of 6/28/24):
Sincerely,
Nina Ozlu Tunceli
Executive Director, Arts Action Fund
Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs, Americans for the Arts
Upcoming Arts Advocacy Events:
Join us for our second quarter Arts Insider Political Briefing, July 10, 2024 @ 3pm ET. These Arts Insider Briefings are an opportunity to ask questions or just listen in on a robust 30-minute Zoom discussion about what's happening in Congress, pending congressional deals impacting the arts, and long-range election forecasting.
