Reprinted from post by Jenny Hershour, Citizens for The Arts in Pennsylvania
Earlier this month, The Hill newspaper reported that two Trump transition advisors were recommending eliminating agencies or eliminating the government funding for certain agencies. Among these were the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). According to The Hill, these transition team staffers are “laying the groundwork for the so-called skinny budget” and are expected to produce a document around March 7. The full budget document is expected to be released by mid- to late April.
Working with Americans for the Arts, there are a few things that you, as an arts advocate, can do right now to encourage President Trump to include the NEA, NEH, and CPB in his budget document. None take more than a few minutes to complete. They are as follows:
- Take two minutes to contact our two Senators and your House member:
- Senator Bob Casey
(202) 224-6324
https://www.casey.senate.gov/contact - Senator Patrick Toomey
(202) 224-4254
https://www.toomey.senate.gov/contact - House of Representative members – Pennsylvania
http://www.house.gov/ (enter your zip code in the box at the top right corner)
- Senator Bob Casey
- Take another 5 minutes to contact President Trump to tell him how important arts and culture funding is to your community. Share how it impacts jobs, community revitalization, economic development, etc. Tell a story. Contact President Trump, via email, at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact.
- Sign your name to the National Petition to President Trump to Support Arts in America at http://artsactionfund.org/page/s/trump-arts-petition
- Register to attend National Arts Advocacy Day on March 20-21 in Washington, DC at http://www.americansforthearts.org/events/arts-advocacy-day/register. This will be an opportunity for you to tell your story about the importance of arts and culture to your to Pennsylvania members of Congress. I’ll be scheduling appointments with the offices of Senator Casey and Senator Toomey and can help you schedule an appointment with your House of Representatives member. For many years, Pennsylvania has assembled one of the largest delegations at Arts Advocacy Day – let’s do that in 2017!
Governor Wolf will be making his budget address to a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Tuesday, Feb. 7 beginning at 11 AM. His budget proposal will include line items for arts and culture.
