Dance/NYC works in alliance with Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance 

Dear Colleague,

Congress has passed, and the President has signed into law, the omnibus spending bill that will continue to fund the government for the remainder of the 2018 fiscal year, which started in October 2017. The bill included great news for the cultural sector: 

• The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) would both receive $152.849 million for the current fiscal year, a $3 million increase over the FY2017 budget. The increase to the NEA is directed toward expanding the Creative Forces: Military Healing Arts Network and to increase grants made available to indigenous, rural and underserved areas. The budget language commends “the NEA for its work incorporating arts therapy into the treatment of active-duty military patients, veterans and their families” through this program. Congress also encourages the timely appointment of individuals to fill the vacancies on the National Council on the Arts, positions that are appointed by the president.

Additional successes include: 

• The Assistance for Arts Education grant program at the U.S. Department of Education received $29 million, a $2 million increase over the previous fiscal year.
   
• Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants at the U.S. Department of Education is funded at $1.1 billion, a $700 million increase from FY2017.
   
• The Office of Citizen Exchange within the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State received $111.4 million, funding level with the previous fiscal year.
   
• The Institute of Museum and Library Services received a $9 million increase, including a $3 million increase to museums.
   
• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would receive level funding.
   
• The Johnson Amendment, which protects charitable nonprofits from partisan politicking, was neither repealed nor weakened.

This is an incredible show of bipartisan support from Congress. The administration’s 2018 budget proposal requested the elimination of the cultural agencies. The government has been funded through a series of continuing resolutions since October 2017, with the most recent CR ending on Friday, March 23.

Thank you for your ongoing advocacy. Please be sure to reach out to your members of Congress to express thanks for their ongoing support for the arts.

To learn more about these and other issues, visit Dance/USA's advocacy page. And please take a minute to join arts advocates from across the U.S. in urging Congress to support policies and legislation that impact the arts sector.