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06-26-2009: The U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 254-173 the Interior Appropriations bill, which included a $15 million increase for both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for FY 2010. Currently funded at $155 million, this increase would bring both agencies' budgets to $170 million.
06-15-2009: For the first time in 11 years, the federal government released a national report card on achievement in the arts among 8th graders. This long-awaited report finds that since 1997, our nation's students have not made significant progress in developing their skills and knowledge in the arts. The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in the Arts report is the only continuing, national measure of academic achievement in America's schools.
06-10-2009: The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets the initial funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), approves a $15 million increase for the NEA in its FY 2010 spending bill. Currently funded at $155 million, this increase would bring the agency's budget to $170 million.
05-13-2009: President Obama nominates Rocco Landesman, president of Jujamcyn Theaters, to serve as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. The White House’s official statement on his nomination noted that Landesman’s career “has been a hybrid of commercial, philanthropic, and purely artistic engagements.” Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert Lynch noted in a press statement, “I am excited to see that President Obama has made a bold choice in selecting Rocco Landesman as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. His nomination represents an important opportunity to advance the mission of the NEA to provide access to the arts for all. As evidenced in his work as a theatrical producer, Landesman has an entrepreneurial spirit that will allow the NEA to spotlight the broad spectrum of the arts in America to the nation and to the world.”
05-07-2009:
President Obama releases his detailed FY 2010 budget request to Congress, beginning the yearly appropriations process for the nation's cultural agencies and programs, including the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Museum Services, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Department of Education's Arts in Education programs. Americans for the Arts President & CEO Robert Lynch noted in a press statement, "The president's proposed funding of $161 million would take the NEA to its highest funding level in 15 years and will help continue the upward trend of budgetary growth that Congress established several years ago."
President Obama signs The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (H.R. 1388), which reauthorizes the federal volunteer programs as administered through the Corporation for National Service. In addition to greatly expanding the number of service members, the legislation creates an “Education Corps…that identifies and meets unmet educational goals.” Among the eligible activities outlined in the legislation is a program that calls for artists and/or musicians to promote community unity in low-income communities with citizens of all ages. This would be the most significant inclusion of the arts into national service to date.
04-03-2009: The Congressional Arts Caucus circulated "Dear Colleague" letters for the NEA and Arts Education, seeking $176 million in NEA funding and $53 million in funding for arts education at the U.S. Department of Education for FY 2010.
03-31-2009: Rep. Norm Dicks convenes the House Interior & Environment Appropriations Subcommittee for a special hearing on the arts entitled "The Arts = Jobs", marking Arts Advocacy Day. Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis, GRAMMY®-nominated singer-songwriter Josh Groban, GRAMMY®-Award winning singer Linda Ronstadt, President and CEO of The Reinvestment Fund Jeremy Nowak, and Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch, testified at the hearing and emphasized the importance of developing strong public policies for the arts, appropriating increased public funding for the arts, and supporting arts workers. Video and testimony from the hearing witnesses are available here.
03-31-2009:
Americans for the Arts and 83 national organizations hosted the 2009 Arts Advocacy Day. Over 500 arts advocates from across held meetings with congressional offices. Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis delivered the 22nd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at the Kennedy Center. Representative John Lewis was given the 2009 Congressional Arts Leadership Award. Selected press coverage from Arts Advocacy Day includes:
03-26-2009: The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing titled "The Economic and Employment Impact of the Arts and Music Industry," to examine how the economy is affecting jobs in the arts and music industries, and the role these industries play in communities across the country. This is the first in a series of hearings the Committee has announced it will hold this Spring on the impact of the creative industries and their vital role in our economy. Witnesses included Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch and Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs Director and Americans for the Arts Board Member Michael Spring. Read testimony from the hearing here and watch video here.
03-16-2009: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report addressing declining access to music and arts education for public school students as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The GAO report surveyed 50 state arts officials, interviewed officials in 8 school districts and 19 schools and reviewed existing research. One of the key recommendations from the GAO was that the U.S. Department of Education increase its collection of arts education data so that decreases in instructional time in the arts has occurred. Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who requested the study, issued a joint press release that called this class time reduction “a disturbing trend.”
03-10-2009: Congress passes the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which provides an increase of $10 million ($144.7 to $155 million) to the budgets of both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education was increased from $37.5 million to $38.1 million and the Office of Museum Services went from $31.27 million to $35 million.
02-13-2009:
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with $50 million in direct support for arts jobs through National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants. The massive $787 billion legislation is the result of reconciliation between the two chambers’ versions of the stimulus legislation tasked with making major investments in the country’s workforce. In addition to securing critical funding, congressional and grassroots advocates were able to successfully remove an onerous provision banning certain arts groups from receiving recovery funds they are eligible for in program areas other than the NEA. The amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) was passed in the Senate version of their bill and included exclusionary language for “museums, theaters, and arts centers.” In reconciling the two chambers’ differences between their bills, the amendment was dropped from the final legislation. Read Americans for the Arts' statement on the economic recovery bill here, as well as a list of other arts-related items of interest in the stimulus package. Selected press coverage of Americans for the Arts and the economic recovery package includes:
The U.S. Senate, during their consideration of the economic recovery bill, approved an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) by a wide vote margin of 73–24 that stated, “None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.”
01-14-2009:
The House Appropriations Committee released an $825 billion economic recovery package. Included in the proposed bill is an infusion of $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (in addition to its annual appropriations) to specifically preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support. Americans for the Arts has released nine Recommendations for Economic Recovery & the Arts to help nonprofit and governmental arts groups as well as individual artists during this economic downturn. Selected press coverage of the economic recovery package and Americans for the Arts Recommendations:
