The Score | President’s Proposed Budget Eliminates Federal Funding for NEA, NEH

On March 11, President Trump put forward a $4.7 trillion federal budget for 2020 that eliminates funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Like last year’s proposed budget, the 2020 spending plan provides small appropriations that would enable the agencies to close down. The cuts to the arts, humanities, public broadcasting, museums, and libraries total $897 million of the $4.7 trillion budget. According to the White House’s 2020 budget document, “Most of the eliminations and reductions in this volume reflect a continuation of policies proposed in the 2018 and 2019 President’s Budgets that have not yet been enacted by the Congress and highlight the Administration’s efforts to eliminate wasteful or unnecessary spending.” The Washington Post reported, “President Trump called for eliminating these agencies in his first two budget plans, but the Republican-led Congress funded them both times, with the NEA, NEH and IMLS each seeing small increases in 2019.” Lawmakers will need to reach an agreement on the budget later this year. Visit the Advocacy and Government pages at americanorchestras.org to stay up to date.