Through the work of Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the U.S. Senate bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now includes support for STEAM!

Coming off the heels of the 29th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy with executive, technologist, and designer John Maeda and his lecture titled "STEAM Makes STEM Taste Better," the excitement around STEAM -- and its proven results -- continues to build.

On Arts Advocacy Day, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) announced new legislation to strengthen the creative economy to a crowd of over 500 arts advocates.

When you talk about the arts, you talk about opportunity! That is one of the many messages we brought to Capitol Hill the morning of March 8, 2016.

Today, the Obama Administration released its FY 2017 budget request to Congress—the last of his Administration. The request includes a proposed $2 million increase, to $150 million, for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This proposed increase continues a welcomed funding climb, but falls short of the needs of the 95,000 nonprofit arts organizations and state and local arts agencies across the country.

It has been a big day in Washington with agreements on both Fiscal Year 2016 funding and expired tax provisions impacting charitable giving.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law last Thursday, includes the arts alongside math and language arts in its definition of a "well-rounded education." That ensures that arts education programs and teachers are eligible to receive federal funds through provisions such as Title I, which supports disadvantaged students, and Title II, which supports teachers. 

In a speedy few weeks, Congress passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in landslide votes: 85-12 in the U.S. Senate and 359-64 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, December 9, the Senate passed the Every Student Succeeds Act 85-12, on the heels of its passage in the House last week.

The bill — which the president is scheduled to sign Thursday, 12/9 — would "dump the current law’s intense focus on test scores and the well-intentioned but impossible goal of having all students reading and calculating at grade level." We're one step closer to saying a permanent farewell to the widely unpopular No Child Left Behind Act. 

Today, the 39-member team of U.S. House and U.S. Senate members approved a conference agreement to rewrite K-12 federal education law. The text of the agreement will be publicly released within a few days, with a House vote as soon as December 2. The agreement will bring about new federal education law impacting a whole generation of students.

Today, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate held its first conference meeting to continue work to bridge differences and reauthorize the expired Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), impacting a whole generation of students.

Members of the committee made public, opening statements in anticipation of a final agreement, which has been anticipated to occur as soon as the week of November 30, given the framework now in place. The committee will meet again on Thursday, November 19th, to continue their work and consider amendments.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives formally agreed to form a conference committee to reauthorize the federal K-12 education law (Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ESEA), which has been expired since 2007.

The rule in today’s House floor debate formally allowed the House to request a conference with the Senate.

On October 21, Americans for the Arts cosponsored a briefing on Capitol Hill organized by Independent Sector and the Council on Foundations. Panelists from charitable organizations spoke about the value of tax incentives that promote charitable giving, including the IRA Charitable Rollover. This provision is an important funding source for nonprofits, including arts organizations and institutions, and is a key tax incentive for charitable giving.

Last night, at a ceremony and reception held at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC, The Ovation Foundation, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and Americans for the Arts recognized eight schools as recipients of the innOVATION STEAM Grant Awards. The innOVATION STEAM Grant Awards acknowledged public K-12 model STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) programs in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of integrating the arts into educational curriculum.

The leaders of the House and Senate education committees met today to discuss the next step for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Today, the Senate Finance Committee considered legislation to extend several expired tax provisions, including the IRA Charitable Rollover. The provision is a key tax incentive for charitable giving and an important funding source for nonprofit groups, including arts organizations. It most recently expired on December 31, 2014.