Pamela Hogan, Executive Director of the Fender^® Museum of the Arts Foundation in Corona, CA and member of Americans for the Arts, testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives Interior Appropriations Subcommittee on Capitol Hill in support of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Read her written testimony sharing her story about the Kids Rock Free^® School of Music and her support of $155 million in funding for the NEA.

Congressional Arts Caucus co-Chairs Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) are co-leading a letter requesting $154.466 million for the NEA in FY 2015. In the Senate, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) is circulating a letter in support of NEA/NEH funding at the $155 million level for FY 2015.

Museum champions in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are circulating bipartisan letters in support of “robust” funding for OMS in the coming fiscal year. In the House, the letter is led by Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY), Michael Grimm (R-NY), and Arts Caucus co-Chairs Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ). In the Senate, it is led by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Roy Blunt (R-MO).

Today the Obama Administration released its FY 2015 budget request to Congress, which includes funding for the nation's cultural agencies and programs, such as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Office of Museum Services, and the Department of Education's Arts In Education program. The Administration’s FY 2015 request is level funding of $146 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, a decrease of $8 million from the Administration's previous year's request.

After more than three years of work, House Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released comprehensive draft tax reform legislation on February 26, 2014 for review and comment. Measuring nearly 1,000 pages, the proposed Tax Reform Act of 2014 contains changes to the Charitable Tax Deduction, a longstanding tax incentive important to the nonprofit sector and charitable giving.

Americans for the Arts joins nearly 500 organizations from across the country in sending a letter to Congress in support of the IRA Charitable Rollover and legislation to make the provision permanent. December 31, 2013 saw the expiration of more than 50 different tax provisions that require congressional renewal.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and John Thune (R-SD) led a letter to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, co-signed by 31 additional Senators, urging the protection of the full value and scope of the charitable tax deduction during comprehensive tax reform consideration.

A bipartisan group of 35 U.S. Senators and Representatives called for immediate action to advance a nearly two-year old stalled process and finally end confusion over rules for musical instruments as carry-on luggage. Social media viral interest, petition efforts, and a congressionally mandated deadline have so far failed to speed agency rule-making. All the while, preventable damage to instruments continues to occur.

Every year, grassroots advocates from across the country join Americans for the Arts and 85+ other co-sponsoring organizations for Arts Advocacy Day - a two-day event where atendees learn the tools and talking points they need to make an impact when they visit their members of Congress in support of issues like arts education policy, charitable tax deduction, and funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Appropriations leaders in Congress release the Fiscal Year 2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which includes $146 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
 

Though traditionally released in February, the administration has announced that it will likely release its FY 2014 budget proposal the week of April 8 due to ongoing federal spending negotiations. It is expected that the president's funding level request for the National Endowment for the Arts will mirror last year's proposed level of $154.3 million.

Last week, U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor circulated a memo to House offices outlining the chamber's proposed work schedule for June, including starting work on four FY14 appropriations bills.

The U.S. Senate approved a bipartisan amendment to the comprehensive immigration bill, which included a provision sponsored by Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) known as the Arts Require Timely Service (“ARTS”) Act.

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) has reintroduced the Artist-Museum Partnership Act (H.R. 2482) for the 113th Congress. This legislation would allow creators of original works to deduct the fair-market value of self-created works given to and retained by a nonprofit institution. It would encourage gifts of visual art such as paintings and sculptures, as well as original manuscripts and supporting material created by composers, authors, and choreographers.

Representatives Frankel (D-FL), Lynch (D-MA), O’Rourke (D-TX), and Titus (D-NV) have all recently joined the Congressional Arts Caucus, which is currently co-chaired by Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ). The caucus now has 163 members.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has been elected to the position of Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which has jurisdiction over education issues including reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Sen.