FY2018 Trump Budget to Fund Closure of Key Federal Cultural Agencies
Among the numerous punishing items to 99% of Americans in the newly released White House FY2018 budget (many in direct contradiction to his campaign promises) is an allocation of funding necessary only for expenses needed to carry out the dissolution of our key federal cultural organizations.
(via the Americans for the Arts, May 23, 2017)
Today, the White House released the official details of its proposed FY2018 “skinny budget” that President Trump proposed back in March. In this latest version, the president doubles down on his recommendation to eliminate the nation’s key federal cultural agencies for the arts, humanities, museums, libraries, and public broadcasting by allocating the minimal amount “for expenses necessary to carry out their closure.” The budget proposal also eliminates important arts education and afterschool grant programs.
Congress is now our only firewall to prevent the President’s extreme proposals from being enacted. Please contact your Members of Congress to urge them to #SAVEtheNEA and these other cultural agencies. Be sure to look up and include your own stories of how NEA grants have impacted the arts in your state and Congressional district.
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(National Endowment for the Humanities press release)
NEH Statement on Proposed FY 2018 Budget
Washington, D.C. (May 23, 2017)—National Endowment for the Humanities Deputy Chair Margaret Plympton released the following statement regarding the agency’s budget:
Today the Trump administration released its comprehensive budget for the Federal government for FY 2018. The White House has requested that Congress appropriate approximately $42 million to NEH for the orderly closure of the agency. This amount includes funds to meet matching grant offers in effect as of October 1, 2017, as well as funds to cover administrative expenses and salaries associated with the closure.
As NEH awaits Congressional action on the President’s proposed budget, the agency is continuing normal operations and will be making the next round of FY 2017 awards following the meeting of the National Council in July.
Since its creation in 1965, NEH has established a significant record of achievement through its grantmaking programs. Over these five decades, NEH has awarded more than $5.3 billion for humanities projects through more than 63,000 grants. That public investment has led to the creation of books, films, and museum exhibits, and to ensuring the preservation of significant cultural resources around the country.
NEH grants have reached every part of the country and provided humanities programs and experiences to benefit all of our citizens. Hundreds of veterans leaving the military service and beginning to pursue an education have benefited from the Warrior-Scholar program, a boot camp for success in the college classroom. Students, teachers, and historians have access to the papers of President George Washington. NEH On the Road circulates traveling versions of major exhibitions to rural towns and small cities all over the map from Greenville, South Carolina, to Red Cloud, Nebraska, and beyond. Through these projects and thousands of others, the National Endowment for the Humanities has inspired and preserved what is best in American culture.
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.