The Performing Arts Alliance is reporting that the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the National Endowment for the Art’s budget, voted this morning to cut the NEA’s FY14 funding to $75 million. This cut is almost 50% less than the current enacted funding level of $146 million. This is significantly disproportionate to funding cuts proposed for other agencies, and is less than half of the $154.5 million requested by the NEA for  their FY14 budget.

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-5-KY) claims that the cut reflects “extraordinarily hard choices needed to maintain critical investments and services for local communities” … but the reality is that it’s such a tiny fraction of any piece of the budget, the move clearly reflects an agenda, rather than a necessity.

The  PAA reports that the Appropriations Committee is expected to consider the bill as early as next week. There is still time for the Committee to make changes to the Bill if Members hear from their constituents. The PAA has made available an “issue brief” on their web site HERE, as well as a template for sending comments HERE. We here at Sing Out! wholeheartedly recommend that  we speak out on this issue.

The Performing Arts Alliance and its coalition members are actively engaged with members of congress to be the voice for the presenting and performing arts fields on Capitol Hill. We thank them heatedly for the alert! Visit their website for updates on their advocacy efforts.