Welcome to Colorado Council on the Arts

LEGISLATIVE MEMO

To: State Arts Agency Executive Directors and Chairs ...........................................................August 10, 2005
From: Thomas L. Birch, Legislative Counsel ..................................................................................Vol. 18:05

Arts Endowment Funding Enacted: On August 2, 2005, with Congress in recess, President Bush signed into law H.R. 2361, the FY06 Interior Appropriations Bill, with an increase of $5 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This is reduced to a net gain of $4.4 million after applying .476 percent across-the-board cut to all programs, putting the arts endowment at $125.66 million for year ahead.

The final funding level agreed to by the conference committee represented a compromise between the House-passed bill, which would have added $10 million to the NEA budget, and the Senate’s bill, which carried $5 million in new money for the arts endowment.

Many players were involved in getting Congress to agree to additional arts spending this year, with spending restraints imposed by a tight budget resolution and no NEA increase proposed in the president’s budget. Please take a moment to send a word of thanks to those senators and representatives from your state whose leadership and advocacy in Congress were responsible for achieving the increase in NEA appropriations. A word from you lets your legislators know that their constituents value their position taken in support of federal arts funding.

Representatives sponsoring the floor amendment to increase NEA funding: Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Norm Dicks (D-WA), David Price (D-NC) and Jim Leach (R-IA).
Representatives who spoke on the House floor in support of the NEA amendment: Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Danny Davis (D-IL), Tom Udall (D-NM), David Wu (D-OR), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), James McGovern (D-MA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and David Obey (D-WI).
Members of the House of Representatives who signed a letter to the House conferees urging adoption of increased funding for the NEA. (A copy of that letter with signatures is available at http://www.nasaa-arts.org/nasaanews/FY06NEA_HouseLetter.pdf.)
Senators who sponsored the amendment adopted by the Appropriations Committee to increase NEA funds: Sens. Larry Craig (R-ID), Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Pete Domenici (R-NM).
Members of the House-Senate conference committee who agreed to the final funding increase for the arts endowment: Sens. Conrad Burns (R-MT), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), and Thad Cochran (R-MS); and Reps. Charles Taylor (R-NC) and Norm Dicks (D-WA).

Arts Ed Funding Set for September Vote: The FY06 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill, with $35.7 million for the Department of Education’s arts in education program approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 14, 2005, is expected to pass Senate floor votes in September. Both the president’s FY06 budget proposal and the companion bill passed by the House in June zeroed out the funds for the arts in education program. Advocates are looking to a House-Senate conference to agree to funding the arts education program at the level set by the Senate bill.

Thanks are due to the senators who championed the arts education spending in the committee’s deliberations: Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA).

Artist Visa Processing Improvements: The Department of State on July 19 issued a memorandum to U.S. consulates encouraging policies favorable to foreign artists applying for a visa to perform in the United States. The memo directs consulates to accommodate the time-sensitive nature of arts-related visas and to avoid delays in issuing artist visas.

The memo says in part that “consular officers should also be sensitive to the needs of performers whose schedules may be disrupted by unforeseen events, and whenever possible, accommodate these groups through post’s normal procedures for expediting visa applications. Consular officers should be especially alert to changes in a program or a group compelled by illness, injury or other emergencies.”

The memo also urges consulates to restrain from questioning the performance abilities of artists applying for visas, specifically discouraging consular officers from asking artists to perform as part of the visa application process. While each consulate has the authority to sets its visa issuance policies in light of local country conditions, the memo is a strong statement in support of a reasonable visa processing system for artists. Artists applying for visas may benefit, on a case-by-case basis, by having a copy of the State Department memo on hand in the event of problems. To provide foreign artists with a copy of the July 19 State Department memo, please see Visa Applications from Artists and Entertainers, http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegrams/telegrams_2592.html.

Senate Passes Resolution on “People-to-People Engagement”: On July 27, the Senate passed by unanimous consent S.Res. 104, the People-to-People Engagement in World Affairs Resolution, expressing support for the active engagement of Americans in international affairs, including participation in cultural exchanges, and urging the Secretary of State to take the lead and coordinate with other governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations in creating an online database of international exchange programs, with information included on international fairs and cultural events in the United States.

The resolution was introduced by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), with the co-sponsorship of Sens. Norm Coleman (R-MN), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ken Salazar (D-CO). A companion bill in the House, H.Res. 192, was introduced by Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) in April. The bill awaits action by the House Committee on International Relations.