Just as one appropriations cycle comes to a close with the FY 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Act, a new one begins. The U.S. House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee, led by Chair Chellie Pingree (D-ME), invited testimony from stakeholders on the FY 2023 appropriations process. The subcommittee oversees federal funding for natural and cultural resources, including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Americans for the Arts submitted testimony calling for “…funding for both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) at no less than $201 million each for FY 2023.” This is the level that the Biden Administration proposed for FY 2022, and was approved by the House; however, the final level in the Omnibus appropriations bills is $180 million. As of this writing, the FY 2023 Administration budget request has not been released.

The testimony also requested that the subcommittee “build a specific path to index funding for each of these two cultural agencies at $1 per capita. Each agency is currently funded at about 53 cents per capita.” The per capita ask has been central to Americans for the Arts and Arts Action Fund advocacy efforts for over a decade. Public polling demonstrates support for this increase, as do many Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress.

Lastly, the statement to the Interior Subcommittee also highlighted the importance of federal funding to Local Arts Agencies (LAAs). LAAs collectively are responsible for approximately $912 million in public and private grantmaking annually. LAAs have taken the lead in equity-centered grantmaking in their cities, counties, and rural and suburban areas. They have been entrusted with federal, state, and local funds, including CDBG grants, CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act state and local block grant funds, and other government sources to support emergency relief grants to arts small businesses, nonprofits, individual gig artists, and entrepreneurs.