2014 Budget Plan Reduces NEA funds by 49%

The bill includes $75 million for each for the NEA and NEH, which is a reduction of $71 million (49%) per endowment compared to the fiscal year 2013 enacted level.

The House Appropriations Committee today released the fiscal year 2014 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation includes funding for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Forest Service, and various independent and related agencies.

In total, the bill includes $24.3 billion in base funding, which is a cut of $5.5 billion below the fiscal year 2013 enacted level (-19%) and a cut of $4 billion below the current level caused by sequestration cuts. In addition, the bill includes $1.5 billion in emergency spending to help combat devastating wildfires, some of which have already caused widespread damage throughout the western U.S. This emergency funding is offset by a rescission of unused funding left over from the 2009 “stimulus” legislation.