U.S. House Recommends NEA and Arts Education Increases for FY21

August 6, 2020

Last month, the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives advanced all twelve of its funding bills for FY21, followed shortly by passage by the full House of a package containing nearly all of them. The recommendations included in the House-passed measure are: $170 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities (a $7.75M increase for each agency from the current year) and $31 million for Arts in Education programs at the U.S. Department of Education (a $1M increase from the current year). The House funding bill also calls for a $10M increase for Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) State Grants, which provides flexible resources to improve student access to a well-rounded education, and an advance appropriation recommendation of $515 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (a $50M increase). The appropriations bill includes accompanying language that calls for the NEA to report on “how NEA Performance goals improve the diversity of artistic representation and the steps taken to ensure that NEA staff, the National Council [on] the Arts, Discipline Directors, and Peer Panelists include members from minority and underserved communities.” Senate subcommittees have yet to release FY21 bills.