New Ominibus Bill Would Increase Funding for NEA & NEH

The New York Times is reporting that a new omnibus bill introduced on Monday by the House Appropriations Committee includes a $10 million increase for the National Endowment for the Arts and for the National Endowment for the Humanities, this bill would bring each of their annual budgets to $155 million.

The allocations, which have yet to be acted on by the House and Senate, follows the approval on Feb. 13 of $50 million in additional funds for the National Endowment for the Arts in Congress's economic stimulus bill reports the Times.

In the previous fiscal year, the endowment's budget rose from $124.4 million to $144.7 million, to read the entire New York Times article click here.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a United States federally funded and donation assisted program that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current chairman is the poet and former CEO Dana Gioia and it has its offices in the Old Post Office building, in Washington, D.C.