SR118

A Senate Resolution supporting the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and urging the President and Congress to continue funding the arts through the NEA in fiscal year 2018 and beyond.

Whereas, The National Endowment for the Arts was established in 1965 when Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act; and

Whereas, For more than 50 years, the National Endowment for the Arts has fostered our country’s diverse artistic expression by awarding more than $5 billion in funds to artists and arts organizations across the country to preserve and advance our common heritage in music, dance, drama, creative writing, film, photography, folk art, painting, sculpture, television and radio, and other creative endeavors; and

Whereas, The National Endowment for the Arts has been essential to the survival and continued existence of local artists and arts organizations and their multicultural artistic expression by awarding grants to artists and arts organizations in every state, especially through partnerships with state arts agencies and regional arts organizations; and

Whereas, In New Jersey, the National Endowment for the Arts annually awards about $800,000 in funding to the State Council on the Arts as the key state arts agency for distribution to artistic projects all over the State, and also disburses a significant amount of funds directly to artists and arts organizations in this State, fostering not only local arts and culture but also the local economy; and

Whereas, At $146 million, the organization’s annual budget constitutes an infinitesimal fraction of the annual United States budget; and

Whereas, In May of 2017, Congress approved H.R. 244, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act,” which allocated to the National Endowment for the Arts its fiscal year 2017 requested appropriation of $150 million, an increase above its 2016 funding levels; and

Whereas, By increasing its funding, Congress recognized that the National Endowment for the Arts strengthens our nation’s long-standing efforts to foster artistic expression that is vital to our growth, our spirit, and our democracy, and to our local communities that currently benefit from the economic activity generated by the funded arts and entertainment programs; and

Whereas, We must therefore support the National Endowment for the Arts and its continued funding in 2018 and beyond because, in the words of President Lyndon B. Johnson, art “is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish;” now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Senate of the State of New Jersey supports the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and affirms the organization’s work to foster our nation’s diverse artistic expression as vital to our democracy and our economy. This House supports H.R. 244, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act” Congress approved in May of 2017, which allocated to the NEA its fiscal year 2017 requested appropriation of $150 million. This House urges the President and Congress to continue to support the arts through the NEA in fiscal year 2018 and beyond.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the House Majority Leader, the House Minority Leader, each member of Congress elected from this State, and the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

STATEMENT

This resolution supports the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and urges the President and Congress to continue funding the arts through the NEA in fiscal year 2018 and beyond.

The NEA is an independent agency of the federal government established in 1965 when Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. For more than 50 years, the NEA has fostered our country’s diverse artistic expression by awarding more than $5 billion in funds to artists and arts organizations across the country to preserve and advance our common heritage in music, dance, drama, creative writing, film, photography, folk art, painting, sculpture, television and radio, and other creative endeavors. In New Jersey, the NEA annually awards about $800,000 in funding to the State Council on the Arts as the key state arts agency for distribution to artistic projects all over the State, and also disburses a significant amount of funds directly to artists and arts organizations in this State, fostering not only local arts and culture but also the local economy.

At $146 million, the organization’s annual budget constitutes an infinitesimal fraction of the United States budget. In May of 2017, Congress approved H.R. 244, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act,” which allocated to the NEA its fiscal year 2017 requested appropriation of $150 million, an increase above its 2016 funding levels. By increasing funding for this vital endowment, Congress recognized that the NEA strengthens our nation’s long-standing efforts to foster artistic expression that is vital to our growth, our spirit, and our democracy, and to our local communities that currently benefit from the economic activity generated by the funded arts and entertainment programs. We must therefore support the NEA and its continued funding in 2018 and beyond because, in the words of President Lyndon B. Johnson, art “is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.”