A U.S House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee voted today on a 10 percent cut to the National Endowment for the Arts for its 2013 budget.
The national advocacy group Americans for the Arts called the move “disappointing” in a statement it sent out to arts supporters nationwide.
“The arts community recognizes the challenges our elected leaders face in prioritizing federal resources,” it said, “but funding for the NEA has already been cut by more than $20 million over the past two years, and this additional reduction is counterintuitive to the national call to help grow jobs and fuel the country’s recovery.”
Today’s proposed cut would reduce the federal agency’s budget by $14 million. The current budget is $146.3 million.
The vote came just one day after Americans for the Arts heralded the $26.5 million the Senate Appropriations Committee approved for the Department of Education to use for arts in education programs. Congress allotted $25 million for such programs in the current budget.
