Legislative News - 2015
Read the latest arts news
It has been a big day in Washington with agreements on both Fiscal Year 2016 funding and expired tax provisions impacting charitable giving.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The House has postponed further consideration of the FY 2016 Interior Appropriations bill (H.R. 2822). This annual bill provides funding to cultural agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The House postponed final passage due to strong controversy surrounding voice-voted provisions impacting the display of Confederate flags on certain graves in federal cemeteries and on merchandise within contractual National Park Service (NPS) gift shops.
