UPDATE: Arts Funding Restored in Final Stimulus Bill

Supporters of the arts received good news late Friday when the Senate voted 60 to 38 in favor of a $787 billion economic stimulus bill following a 246-183 House vote earlier in the day. The bill included $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, which seemed to be in serious jeopardy mid-week.

The version of the bill initially passed by the House a couple of weeks ago provided for $50 million in support of arts jobs. But then last Tuesday—after the typical, not-wholly-unexpected (yet no less absurd) “outrage” of Republican representatives, who essentially argued that arts jobs are not “real” jobs—the Senate passed its version without the NEA money, thanks to an amendment introduced by Tom Coburn (R-OK). As the two bills headed into conference between the House and Senate, uncertainty prevailed—though it seemed doubtful that the arts funding would, in the end, survive.

Rep. David R. Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, argued Friday from the House floor in favor of its inclusion in the final bill:

You know what? There are five million people who work in the arts industry. And right now they have 12.5 percent unemployment—or are you suggesting that somehow if you work in that field, it isn’t real when you lose your job, your mortgage or your health insurance? We’re trying to treat people who work in the arts the same way as anybody else.

Thankfully, and surprisingly (this is Congress, after all), the common sense and wisdom of the Obey camp won out yesterday over the idiocy and thoughtlessness of those like Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) and Coburn.

“It was not politics as usual in Washington, as the Congressional conferees’ final version of the bill seized the opportunity to provide much-needed stimulus support for the nation’s creative workforce,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, which played a key role in lobbying Congress and urging like-minded arts advocates to apply pressure on their representatives.

According to the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (see page 143 of the 496-page Division A section of the bill), the $50 million in NEA funding must “be distributed in direct grants to fund arts projects and activities which preserve jobs in the non-profit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn”—with 60 percent to be awarded to various individual projects and the remaining money to be allocated to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations.

“The National Endowment for the Arts will distribute $50 million of the stimulus funds to arts projects in all 50 states which specifically preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector that have been most hurt by the economic downturn,” Lynch said. “Additionally, the final version of the stimulus bill further recognized the role the arts play in the overall U.S. economy by removing the Senate ban on state and local governments from using any of the recovery funds to benefit museums, theaters, and art centers.”

While this NEA funding amounts to only one-sixteen-thousandth of the total economic stimulus package, it is certainly welcome and necessary, especially when considering the NEA’s current annual budget—a meager $145 million—and the bad news coming from so many arts institutions across the country in recent weeks and months. The inclusion of the $50 million in support of the arts, however, should not be seen as a conclusion. It’s a start. But only a start.