The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee on June 11 voted to increase funding to $160 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the 2009 fiscal year, the same level proposed by the House last year. The current appropriation for the arts endowment in 2008 is $144.7 million.
Subcommittee chair Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) maintained his commitment to return the arts agency's funding to its high budget mark at $176 million of sixteen years ago by proposing the increase of $15.3 million over the 2008 funding level. The resident's budget had proposed funds for the NEA at $128.4 million in the coming year, the same level of support requested in the administration's proposal a year ago for FY08.In increasing the budget for the NEA, the House panel voted to raise the funding for direct grants from $49.2 million in FY08 to $56 million in FY09, and for Challenge America grants from $9.3 million to $10.4 million. Funds for the American Masterpieces program would remain at the current level of $13.3 million. Support for state and regional partnerships would increase from $47.8 million to $53 million, and administration funds from $25.1 million to $27.3 million.
At a hearing before his subcommittee earlier this year, Dicks expressed the wish to take the NEA budget back to a higher level to address the shortfall suffered when the arts endowment's funds were slashed over a decade ago.
The Interior Appropriations Bill next goes to the full Appropriations Committee for approval, with House floor action possible before the August break. It remains uncertain whether the Senate will choose to act this year on its version of the Interior spending bill. Congress may simply defer the final funding decisions by passing a continuing resolution which would carry federal spending into the next year, preferring to defer budget issues until after the elections.
The Wyoming Arts Council receives its funding from the NEA, the Wyoming State Legislature, and a small amount from private sources. While the WAC once recived more than 60 percent of its budget from the NEA, that amount is now below 40 percent, due mainly to increases the past three years from the State Legislature.
