House committee proposes funding cuts for NEA, other arts groups

A bill approved by the House of Representative's committee on appropriations would cut funding for a number of cultural organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts, whose budget would be slashed to $75 million for the 2014 fiscal year, a 49% decrease from the agency's funding for 2013 before the budget sequester.

The proposed NEA cuts are part of an across-the-board reduction in federal spending that was put forward this week by the committee, which is led by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY). The bill calls for an overall federal spending cut of 19%. The House Appropriations Committee's proposal for the NEA is at odds with President Obama's request for $154.5 million in funding for the arts agency in his fiscal 2014 budget, announced in April. The committee is also proposing spending cuts of 19% for the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art.