Actors' Equity President Kate Shindle to Address National Press Club Regarding the National Endowment for the Arts

President Donald Trump has called for deep cuts in domestic programs to fund a proposed $54 billion increase in defense spending and $10 billion for a border wall with Mexico.

Some in the Congress and the administration have said that those cuts should include defunding the National Endowment for the Arts and its $149 million annual budget.

Kate Shindle, President of the Actors' Equity Association, representing 50,000 stage actors and stage managers across the nation, says NEA grants not only create jobs in the theatre but foster jobs in restaurants and hospitality, retail and transportation in theatre districts throughout the country.

Shindle will answer questions and make her case for the need to maintain federal arts funding at a National Press Club Newsmaker press conference on Thursday, March 16.

Shindle, who has led Actors' Equity since 2015, is currently touring in the Broadway production of Fun Home. She is a former Miss America (1998). In addition to her work on stage, she has appeared in major motion pictures, such as "Capote."