July 14, 2017
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies unanimously approved a bill proposing $145 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for FY2018. Though this rebuke of the President’s proposal of eliminating NEA funding is fantastic news, the proposal is still $5 million less than FY17 funding and $10 million less than what we and other arts advocacy groups have requested.
A reduction in funding will hurt many small literary arts organizations around the country.
On Tuesday, July 18 beginning at 10:30am, the full House Appropriations Committee will consider the FY18 Appropriations bill, and the arts has many advocates serving on this committee. Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) stated in the subcommittee meeting that he ‘strongly supports’ the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Between now and Tuesday morning, please take some time to contact your representatives, as well as members of the Appropriations Committee to thank them for their support of the arts, and to ask them to increase NEA funding to $155 million.
HERE’S HOW
- Email members of the Senate and the House and encourage them to support the NEA.
- Call members of House Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior and thank them for their support of the NEA, and urge them to support increased funding to the NEA to $155 million when the bill is discussed Tuesday morning (contact info below).
- Call Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and thank him for his support of the arts. (DC office: (202) 225-5034)
If you want to do more, please help spread the word by sharing this call to action with a friend or colleague and following @litnet_org on Twitter and @TheLiteraryNetwork on Facebook for daily updates.
Are you new to LitNet? Subscribe to our Action Alerts to receive pressing news in your inbox.
As always, thank you for your advocacy, passion, and strength.
________________________________
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES + WHAT TO SAY
If you live in a district represented by one of the members of Congress listed below, please call them (not sure? check here). Calls from constituents are our most powerful tool in this effort. If you are not represented by any of these legislators, please call Ken Calvert, the chair of the subcommittee.
Ken Calvert (R-CA), 42nd district
Chair of the Subcommittee
DC #: 202-225-1986
CA #: 951-277-0042
Mike Simpson (R-ID), 2nd district
DC #: 202-225-5531
ID #: 208-334-1953
Tom Cole (R-OK), 4th district
DC #: 202-225-6165
OK #: 405-329-6500
David Joyce (R-OH), 14th district
DC #: 202-225-5731
OH #: 440-352-3939
Chris Stewart (R-UT), 2nd district
DC #: 202-225-9730
UT #: 801-364-5550
Mark Amodei (R-NV), 2nd district
DC #: 202-225-6155
NV #: 775-686-5760
Evan Jenkins (R-WV), 3rd district
DC #: 202-225-3452
WV #: 304-250-6177
Betty McCollum (D-MN), 4th district
DC #: 202-225-6631
MN #: 651-224-9191
Chellie Pingree (D-ME), 1st district
DC #: 202-225-6116
ME #: 207-774-5019
Derek Kilmer (D-WA), 6th district
DC #: 202-225-5916
WA #: 253-272-3515
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), 9th district
DC #: 202-225-4146
OH #: 216-767-5933
Draft Script:
Hello, my name is [say your name] and I live in your district. When [member’s name] reviews and marks up the FY18 Appropriations Bill, I hope [he/she] will support increasing funding to the National Endowment for the Arts to $155 million. The arts do so much to make our community a better place to live. And they create jobs and boost our local economy.