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Arts Advocacy | |
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| Congress Finalizes FY 2005 Funding NEA, NEH, and Arts Education Get Small Increases On Saturday, November 20, Congress finalized FY 2005 funding with the passage of a nine-bill “omnibus,” which rolled several spending bills into one large $388 billion package. Each of the final appropriations amounts were then administered an across-the-board .8 percent rescission. It passed the House by a vote of 344-51 and the Senate 65-30. The final bill was over 1,600 pages and weighed 14 pounds. The final bill was only one percent larger than last year’s appropriations measure. Congress essentially froze all non-defense spending, allowing small increases in certain programs, and reducing or eliminating funding for numerous programs. Fortunately, cultural funding was one of the few domestic spending areas that will realize some small increases. A comparison of federal funding (post-rescission) between last year and this year follows: National Endowment for the Arts: FY 2004: $120.97 million FY 2005: $121.99 million The NEA increase will incorporate approximately $2 million for the new American Masterpieces program, which will sponsor presentations of the great American works across all art forms, and will reach large and small communities in all 50 states. The popular Challenge America program will be funded at approximately $21.5 million. National Endowment for the Humanities: FY 2004: $135.30 million FY 2005: $138.88 million Approximately $16 million of the NEH funding is for matching grants. The final bill specifically noted a decrease of $2 million for the "We the People" initiative. Arts in Education programs through the U.S. Department of Education: FY 2004: $35.1 million FY 2005: $35.6 million Arts in Education funding is broken down specifically as follows: $7.4 million for Very Special Arts; $6.36 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; $7.9 million for model professional development grants for music, drama, dance and visual arts educators, and; $500,000 for evaluation activities. The remaining $13.4 million is for the expansion of model arts programs, including a new grant competition. Office of Museum Services: FY 2004: $31.4 million FY 2005: $34.8 million Funding for OMS is broken down approximately as follows: $17.85 million for Museums for America; $446,000 for museum assessment; $3.6 million for the Museum Conservation Program; $7.54 million for the Museum National Leadership Project; and $843,000 for Native American Museum services. In addition to the funding detailed above, cultural agencies nationwide also secured dozens of earmarks -- local projects identified by name with specific funding allocations in the omnibus bill. It appears that at least $50 million will be administered to specific cultural organizations to fund museum initiatives, arts education programs and many other projects. We encourage you to keep checking back to Americans for the Arts' E-Advocacy Center as the new 109th Congress convenes in January. We will keep you informed with timely updates and actions that you can take to insure that the arts continue to receive increased funding in the new year. Thank you for all of your grassroots advocacy efforts this year. |
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