NEA Funding Reinstated in the Stimulus Bill

Virginians for the Arts reports today that the wording prohibiting funding for arts and community was deleted from the final stimulus bill, or if that’s too many negatives in one sentence, we got it back!

$50 Million Included in Stimulus Plan for the Arts

Senate & House Set to Vote–Coburn Amendment Language Dropped

The Senate and House of Representatives are set to vote on final passage of the economic stimulus plan, which includes $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. House and Senate negotiators on the bill also dropped the language prohibiting stimulus funds from going to museums, theatres, and arts centers, which was included in the Senate’s bill.

This is a terrific turnaround of events and a clear cut case of the power of our grassroots network.

The compromise version of the bill stipulates that the NEA funding go for grants to activities and projects, “which preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn.” 40% of the money will go to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations and the remainder will go for competitive grants from the NEA.

Virginians for the Arts congratulations arts advocates who called and wrote their legislators to let them know that the arts are an important part of the economic sector and that the Arts ARE Building Communities in Virginia! In this case, individual advocacy really made the difference!

The funding for the NEA will go to the states, basically $1 million to each state, which in some states like California, virtually doubles their allotment.

UPDATE 12:23 pm PST: I heard that news about money going to the states from the NEA while I was there a couple of weeks ago.  I just got an email from the Washington State Arts Alliance that clarifies some of the language in the bill:

The bill language states the NEA grants are directed to “preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn”, with 40 percent of the amount going to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations (“in a manner similar to the agency’s current practice”) and the remainder going out in competitive grants from the NEA.  Matching requirements are waived.  Unfortunately, there is still a prohibition on spending in the bill to zoo’s and aquariums.
As some of you have seen, certain arts groups are jumping the gun because the conference bill has now gone online.  You should also know that we were specifically requested to withhold confirming this information to our field by Speaker Pelosi’s office until the House finalized their bill – a sign of just how tentative the final completion of this bill was. AFTA will continue to honor its pledge to the conferees who negotiated through the night to save funding for the arts using all of our data.  You should also know that AFTA is the one who confidentially informed these groups of these updates yesterday and we asked them to hold off with any announcements because it could jeopardize final passage of the bill.

Good job, everybody!

UPDATE 2-13-09 (Friday the 13th is a good day for the Arts!)

From Americans for the Arts;

Just moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives approved their final version of the Economic Recovery bill by a vote of 246-183.  We can now confirm that the package DOES include $50 million in direct support for arts jobs through National Endowment for the Arts grants.  We are also happy to report that the exclusionary Coburn Amendment language banning certain arts groups from receiving any other economic recovery funds has also been successfully removed.  Tonight the Senate is scheduled to have their final vote, and President Obama plans to sign the bill on Monday – President’s Day.

A United Voice
This is an important victory for all of you as arts advocates.  More than 85,000 letters were sent to Congress, thousands of calls were made, and hundreds of op-eds, letters to the editor, news stories, and blog entries were generated in print and online media about the role of the arts in the economy.  Artists, business leaders, mayors, governors, and a full range of national, state, and local arts groups all united together on this advocacy issue.  This outcome marks a stunning turnaround of events and exemplifies the power of grassroots arts advocacy.

We would like to also thank some key leaders on Capitol Hill who really carried our voices into the conference negotiation room and throughout the halls of Congress: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey (D-WI), House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA), and Congressional Arts Caucus Co-Chair Louise Slaughter (D-NY).  We also want to publicly thank President Obama for taking the early lead in recognizing the role of the arts in economic development.  These leaders were able to convincingly make the case that protecting jobs in the creative sector is integral to the U.S. economy.

About Marty Ronish

Marty Ronish is an independent producer of classical music radio programs. She currently produces the Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts that air 52 weeks a year on more than 400 stations and online at www.cso.org. She also produces a radio series called "America's Music Festivals," which presents live music from some of the country's most dynamic festivals. She is a former Fulbright scholar and co-author of a catalogue of Handel's autograph manuscripts.

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