Search Great Leap Arts Advocacy Home News Programs Artists Booking Calendar About GL Community Site Map Contact us Mailing list Supporters Board Staff Photo Gallery Online Survey Message Board Rice, Frijoles, Greens Grain of Sand Grain Reunion Concert To All Relations House Approves $35 Million Increase for the NEA! Great news! This afternoon the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets the initial funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), approved a $35 million increase for the NEA for its FY 2008 spending bill.  If this funding level is maintained by the Senate and signed into law by President Bush, it will represent the largest increase in NEA history. The agency, currently funded at $124.4 million has only seen increases of under 3% for the last several years. In his first public action on arts issues as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) invited Americans for the Arts to organize a high profile panel of witnesses to testify at a congressional hearing "Role of the Arts in Creativity and Innovation," in conjunction with Arts Advocacy Day on March 13, 2007. This was the first hearing in over 12 years held on the importance of investing in the arts. We want to extend a special thanks to all of Americans for the Arts grassroots activists for your letters and calls to Congress.  It’s working! Next Steps: The FY 2008 Interior Appropriations bill will next go to full committee and then the full House where we will likely need to defend against floor amendments attempting to cut this increase. We must now also put pressure on the Senate to match this funding level.  Please take two minutes to visit Americans for the Arts E-Advocacy Center to send a letter to your Senators. Updated: 5/24/07

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