INFORM

The creative economy is a major economic driver for the Western regional states, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis, the creative industries are among the hardest hit and most impacted sectors in the western region, as well as nationally. All states in the WESTAF region have a significant stake in the Arts Endowment receiving funding to continue its operations and existence due to the federal-state partnerships that support state arts agencies in the region and the additional support that Arts Endowment funding provides directly to arts organizations in each of the states through its own grantmaking.

Compared to previous years, the 13 western states' representation within congressional appropriations committees and cultural caucuses have significantly decreased, only making up only 11% in 2021. We need to engage our members of Congress as advocates and supporters of the arts regardless of their voting records, political affiliations or philosophical positions. Ten states in the region have members of Congress on House and Senate Appropriations Committees—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai‘i, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Ten states in the region had members of Congress vote against the most recent comprehensive appropriations bill that included an increase in the Arts Endowment budget—Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Together these two groups represent all states in the WESTAF region and over half of the states in the region are represented in both groups—Arizona, California, Hawai‘i, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington. All of this underscores the vital importance of western state education and advocacy on behalf of the Arts Endowment and its federal-state partnerships. WESTAF realizes that support of the National Endowment for the Arts is not the only, or even most central, federal arts policy agenda in the present environment so we are recommending (and have been undertaking) a federal arts advocacy strategy that incorporates advocacy on a range of other vital issues.

Under H.R. 133: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 [Including Coronavirus Stimulus & Relief] signed by the president on Dec 27, 2020, $167,500,000 (representing .0004% of the federal budget) was made available to the National Endowment for the Arts to carry out the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965. This represents a funding increase of $5.25 million, the entirety of which was applied to grantmaking. Forty percent of the Endowment’s grantmaking budget is allocated to states and regions, so this has a direct impact on our region. Through the American Rescue Plan (signed into law March 2021) additional support was also made available, which includes an added $470 million stimulus funds which will be administered by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS); and an additional $1.25 billion for the Shuttered Venues Operations Grant (SVOG) program (which had received $15 billion under HR 133).1

Advocates are requesting a budget increase to the Endowment of at least $176 million. Additional relief requests will likely be pursued beyond the $135 million secured through the American Rescue Plan.

The congressional budget process does not always strictly adhere to the timeline defined in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, but the image above and text below are provided to illustrate the main aspects of the budget process. You can view the meeting schedules for the House here and the Senate here. With the recent finalization of the FY2021 budget process, we are now organizing to support the FY2022 budget process.

WESTAF encourages states in the region to engage members from their states that:

• Serve on House and Senate Appropriations Committees - Key Authorizers

• Advocate for the arts as demonstrated by their service on House and Senate cultural caucuses - Key Advocates

• Voted against or abstained from voting on the most recent comprehensive appropriations bill that increased Arts Endowment funding - Key Dissenters

In addition, WESTAF encourages the continued bipartisan support and substantial increase of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding in the FY 2022 Interior Appropriations bill to broaden access to the cultural, educational, and economic benefits of the arts and to advance creativity and innovation in communities across the United States.

In alignment with the 2021 National Arts Action Summit Congressional Asks, Put Creative Workers to Work, and Cultural Advocacy Group Policy Recommendations, WESTAF urges the 13 western regional states to amplify and prioritize the following policy areas to the degree that they fit within your own plans and strategies:

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

• • Specific ask: At least $176 million

  • More information: Senate Dear Colleague Letter courtesy of CAG

Creative Economy (particularly creative workers)

• • Specific ask: $20 billion per Put Creative Workers to Work Proposal

  • Legislation: The CREATE Act and PLACE Act and the DAWN Act

Arts and Recovery

• • Asks: Numerous but we recommend focusing on particular areas that you feel are most relevant to your state and your elected officials like:

    • providing greater access to the arts and artmaking for veterans, active-duty military, and their families

    • supporting a dedicated Artist Corps through the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)

    • expanding PPP, SVOG, Pandemic Employment Assistance (PUA), and other programs through further relief and recovery packages

More information: The Arts Sector and COVID-19 Relief and The Arts and Cultural Sector: Federal Policy Actions

In terms of elected officials, we are recommending the three targets for Congressional engagement that were established in FY20:

• Members of House and Senate Appropriations Committees and Subcommittees (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA) - Influencing the appropriations process and ensuring that key decision makers are aware of the importance of federal arts funding in their constituencies and to the nation as a whole

• Members of Congress that voted against or abstained from voting on the most recent comprehensive appropriations bill that included the Arts Endowment increase (AZ, CO, HI, UT) - Making the case about the value of the arts and learning more about specific and philosophical objections to public funding for the arts

• Members of Congress that are recognized as being prominent advocates of the arts (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, WA) - Providing evidence of public value and impact that helps them to further build their case as advocates

The sections that follow identify the individual members of Congress that fall within each of these target groups. WESTAF has identified 61 targets for federal advocacy across Western Congressional delegations, which are tabulated here.