“The National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities each will see a 5.6% budget reduction in fiscal 2012 under a spending bill passed Friday in the House that’s expected to prevent a feared government shutdown,” writes Mike Boehm in Monday’s (12/19) Los Angeles Times Culture Monster blog. “Under the bill, each agency would have $146.3 million to spend during the budget year that began in October, down from $155 million. It’s the second cut this year for the two grant-making agencies, which began 2011 with budgets of $167.5 million. The combined cuts now total 12.7%. … The Senate passed the spending bill Saturday morning, and it now moves to President Obama for his signature. The NEA and NEH spread the wealth to the provinces, so to speak. Meanwhile, the arts agencies that Washingtonians (such as members of Congress) are best positioned to enjoy won’t be absorbing cuts under the proposal.”
Posted December 20, 2011
