House & Senate Action on FY24 Appropriations

House & Senate Action on FY24 Appropriations

As we enter the fall, the annual Federal appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) brings much ambiguity. When Congress adjourned for the August recess, the House and the Senate found themselves almost $120 billion apart in their recommendations for FY24 spending. This is because the Senate abided by the Debt Ceiling Agreement, but the House did not. The Senate appropriated level funding to FY24 bills, while the House chose to ignore that agreement and interpret it as merely an appropriations cap.

House Freedom Caucus members proceeded to secure deep spending cuts and far-right policy riders on the House version of FY24 spending bills. We expect difficult conference negotiations in the fall that will need to be resolved either by the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30th, or by passing a short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to avoid another government shutdown.

Before Congress adjourned for summer recess, things ended on a high note in the Senate, thanks to amazing grassroots arts efforts. The Senate passed the following FY24 Appropriations bills in full committee mark-up:

• $207 million each in level funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
• $18.6 billion for Title I-A, which includes funding for well-rounded programs to support Arts Education.
• $1.4 billion for Title IV-A block grants, which can be used for in-school and after-school arts education.
• $2.19 billion for Title II-A professional development for school faculty, including arts educators.

However, what will make matters more uncertain is that members of the House Freedom Caucus have been installing non-germane far-right social agenda amendments to various bills when they come to the House floor, most recently to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). These amendments are threats to free expression, choice, identity, and efforts to promote diversity and equity. This trend indicates we must be prepared for similar amendments to NEA and NEH funding when the Interior appropriations bill heads to the floor when Congress reconvenes in September.

To view the status of all key federal arts and education legislation, as well an easy opportunity to e-mail your point of view to your House and Senate members, please visit www.ArtsActionFund.org/Let-Congress-Know-You-Support-Full-Funding-NEA.

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