Order Code RS20287
Updated May 31, 2005
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Arts and Humanities:
Background on Funding
Susan Boren
Specialist in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division
Summary
Funding for the arts and humanities is a perennial issue in Congress. Although arts
funding represents less than 1% of the Bush Administration’s FY2006 total estimated
budget authority, Congress continues to address the concern of whether federal funding
is crucial to sustain arts institutions. The majority of federally funded arts and
humanities programs are contained in the Department of Interior and Related Agencies
appropriations bill. The Interior appropriations provide funding for the National
Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, including the National Endowment for the
Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The Office of
Museum Services, within the Institute of Museum and Library Services, is now under
the jurisdiction of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related
Agencies appropriations. After a series of continuing resolutions, the final FY2005
Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-447) provided $121.3 million for the NEA,
and $138.05 million for the NEH. The FY2005 appropriation provided $34.7 million
for the Office of Museum programs within IMLS. The House-passed Interior and
Related Agencies Appropriations bill for FY2006 (H.R. 2361) (H.Rept. 109-80) would
provide $131.3 million for NEA and $143.05 million for NEH, both reflecting funding
increases above the Bush Administration’s FY2006 budget and the FY2005 enacted
level.
Background
Of the estimated 200+ arts and humanities programs scattered throughout federal
agencies, it appears that the majority of arts and humanities funding is through the
Department of Interior appropriations.1 President Bush’s FY2006 budget request ($2.547
trillion in estimated budget authority, $2.587 trillion in outlays) includes far less than 1%
for arts and humanities-related spending. The NEA and the NEH combined specifically
1 The federal government also provides support for the arts through tax expenditures, such as the
deduction for charitable contributions to the arts, humanities, and culture on income tax and on
gift and estate taxes.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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constitute an estimated 0.01% of the FY2006 budget.2 The Department of Interior and
Related Agencies Appropriations for FY2005 (P.L. 108-447) provided a total of $121.3
million for NEA and $138.05 million for NEH, representing approximately 0.01% of total
estimated budget authority ($2.47 trillion) in FY2005.
Arts Programs
Three of the major arts programs funded by the federal government include the NEA,
the NEH, and the Office of Museum Services within the Institute of Museum and Library
Services (OMS/IMLS). NEA provides direct grants to art institutions, grants for
programs of national significance, and a limited number of individual grants for Literature
fellowships, Jazz masters, and National Heritage Fellowships in the folk and traditional
arts. NEA has awarded approximately 120,000 grants for 50 states and six U.S.
jurisdictions since 1965. State arts agencies, in compliance with the congressional
mandate, are now receiving over 40% of NEA grant-making funds. In addition to
providing state arts grants, NEA administers the Challenge America Arts fund.3 NEH
supports grants for humanities education, research, preservation, public humanities
programs, and grants under the jurisdiction of 56 state humanities councils, and has
initiated a “We the People” program. NEH also supports a Challenge grant program to
stimulate and match private donations in support of humanities institutions. Since its
creation, NEH has provided approximately 61,000 grants to all states. Within IMLS, the
OMS supports general operations grants for museums, museum leadership grants,
museum conservation grants, and museum assessment.4 In the past 25 years, the IMLS’s
Office of Museum Services has awarded approximately 44,000 grants totaling over $400
million, aiding approximately 15,000 museums of all types. OMS is now under the
jurisdiction of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related
Agencies appropriations (L-HHS-ED) instead of Interior and Related Agencies
appropriations. The rationale for this transfer was that the Office of Library Services, the
larger of the two components of IMLS, was already under L-HHS-ED appropriations, and
having a single funding stream appeared to be simpler.
FY2005 Funding
For final FY2005 funding, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (P.L. 108-
447) provided $121.3 million for NEA and $138.05 million for NEH. The conference
added $2 million to NEA’s funding for the “American Masterpieces” program. The
FY2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided $34.7 million for OMS within IMLS,
2 An estimate of the FY2006 total budget authority ($2.547 trillion) would include less than 0.1%
of the total budget authority for arts and humanities-related spending. This figure is calculated
based on programs in the FY2006 budget, and using the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
([http://www.cfda.gov]) designations for arts and humanities programs. (For estimated total U.S.
budget authority, see U.S. Budget, Historical Tables, FY2006, Tables 3.1 and 5.1)
3 The Challenge America Arts fund is a program of matching grants for arts education, outreach,
and community arts activities for rural and under served areas. Because the NEA administers the
Challenge America Arts fund, it is required to submit a detailed report to the House and Senate
appropriations committees describing the use of funds for the Challenge America fund program.
4 The IMLS and the Office of Museum Services have been reauthorized through FY2009 by P.L.
108-81, the Museum and Library Services Act.

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$39.9 million for “Congressionally directed grants” and $205.9 million for Library
programs for a total of $280.6 million for IMLS. This included $16.9 million for the
“Museums for America” program, to “build the capacity of museums to serve
communities through technology and education.” P.L. 108-447 also provided $35.6
million for the Arts in Education program.
FY2006 Budget Request
The Bush Administration’s FY2006 budget proposed $121.3 million for NEA
(including an additional $14.9 million for the Challenge America Arts Fund). In the NEA
budget, NEA’s direct grants would constitute an estimated $45.1 million. The new
national initiative called American Masterpieces was proposed to be funded at $8.0
million and includes touring programs, local presentations, and arts education programs
in the fields of dance, visual arts, and music. For IMLS, the FY2006 budget proposed
$262.2 million, and of that amount the Office of Museum Services (which serves an
estimated 15,000 museums) would have received $38.9 million. For NEH, the FY2006
budget would have provided $138.05 million, the same as the FY2005 appropriation.
NEH’s FY2006 budget proposed $11.2 million for the “We the People” initiative. These
grants include model curriculum projects for schools to improve course offerings in the
humanities — American history, culture, and civics. The FY2006 budget proposed $56.8
million to support NEH’s grant programs for education, research, preservation and access,
and public programming in the humanities; and $31.4 million for the federal state
partnership program for the 56 state humanities councils; and $15.4 million would have
funded the NEH Challenge Grants program and Treasury funds to stimulate private
donations.
FY2006 Appropriations
After a series of hearings, the House Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies Appropriations marked up the Interior Appropriations bill on May 4,
2005. The full House Appropriations Committee met May 10, 2005 and reported H.R.
2361 (H.Rept. 109-80, May 13, 2005), providing $121.3 million for the NEA and $138.05
million for NEH. On May 19, 2005 the House passed the Interior, Environment and
Related Agencies appropriations bill, H.R. 2361, by a vote of 329 to 89. The House
passed bill would provide $131.3 million for NEA, $10.0 million above the
Administration’s FY2006 request and the FY2005 Appropriation. (See Table 1 below
for additional arts-related appropriations.) A House floor amendment by Rep. Slaughter
was approved that increased NEA’s appropriation by $10.0 million and the NEH by $5.0
million with offsets totaling $15.0 million from the National Forest system and
Department of Interior’s Departmental Management activities. Under the House passed
bill NEA’s Challenge America program was increased to $24.9 million funded under
NEA grants and state partnerships.
Other House floor amendments that were not agreed to would have reduced funding
for the NEA. One sought to cut $15.0 million from NEA to provide $4.8 million for the
Payment in Lieu of Taxes program. Another proposed cutting $30.0 million from the
NEA to shift $27.5 million to the Forest Service’s Wildland Fire Management program.

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Reauthorization of the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS)
The legislation authorizing the IMLS expired at the end of FY2002. However,
funding was carried through appropriations law until enactment of P.L. 108-81. H.R. 13,
the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003, which authorized funding for IMLS
through FY2009 was signed into law on September 24, 2003 as P.L. 108-81. The
provisions for P.L. 108-81 included an “obscenity clause” requiring the IMLS Director
to establish procedures to prohibit funding to any project that has been “determined to be
obscene” in the judgment of the courts, and require the Director in making grants to “take
into account consideration of general standards of decency and respect for the diverse
beliefs and values of the American public.” The law used the definition of obscenity that
was formulated by the United States Supreme Court in Miller vs. California (413 U.S. 15
(1973)), and this language was carried through Interior appropriations and became
amendments to the NEA statute (National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. §954(d)). (See CRS Report RS21509, Museum and Library
Services Act of 2003: Using “Obscenity” and “Decency” Criteria in Selecting
Grantees.) In addition to this provision, the law also clarified the definition of museum
and revised the purposes section to restate the importance of museums’ public service role
of connecting the whole of society to our cultural heritage. The law required that the
IMLS director carry out and publish analyses of the “impact” of museum and library
services.
P.L. 108-81 authorizes OMS at $38.6 million for FY2004 and “such sums” as may
be necessary for FY2005-FY2009. The public law also included amendments to the
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act and the Arts and Artifacts
Indemnity Act to raise liability limits to $8 billion. For those aspects of P.L. 108-81
related to libraries, see CRS Report RL31320, Federal Aid to Libraries: The Library
Services and Technology Act.
Private Giving to the Arts and Humanities
Giving USA, a publication by the American Association of Fundraising Counsel
(AAFRC) Trust for Philanthropy, provides an annual report on philanthropy. According
to Giving USA 2004, private giving to organizations in the arts, culture, and humanities
category totaled $13.11 billion in 2003. This represents 5.4% of total estimated giving
($240.7 billion) in 2003. In current dollars, private giving to the arts, culture and
humanities reflects an increase of 7.3% over 2002. One of the largest gifts reported in
2003 was for $300 million, the value of the Meyerhoff art collection, which was
transferred to the National Gallery of Art.

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Table 1. FY2002-FY2006 Appropriations for Selected Arts and Humanities Programs
FY2006
FY2002
FY2003
FY2004
FY2005
FY2006
House-
approp.
approp.
approp.
approp.
budget request
passed
National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA) (Grants, Admin.)a
$98,234,000
$115,732,000
$120,972,000
$121,264,000
$121,264,000
$131,264,000
Challenge America Arts Funda
17,000,000
16,889,000
21,729,000
21,427,000
14,922,000
24,922,000
NEA total
115,234,000
115,732,000
120,972,000
121,264,000
121,264,000
131,264,000
National Endowment for
124,504,000
124,936,000
135,310,000
138,054,000
138,054,000
143,054,000
the Humanities (NEH)
Office of Museum Services, IMLS
26,899,000
28,637,000
31,403,000
34,724,000d
38,915,000
na
Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) — totalb
224,501,000
243,890,000
262,240,000
280,564,000d
262,240,000
na
446,096,000
488,653,000
489,035,000
524,135,000
524,381,000
Smithsonianc
420,960,000
t518,860,000
t544,875,000
t596,279,000
t615,158,000
t615,035,000
t615,281,000
Kennedy Center
38,310,000
33,690,000
32,159,000
33,021,000
33,000,000
27,800,000
National Gallery of Art
85,335,000
92,842,000
98,225,000
102,653,000
113,300,000
113,300,000
Commission of Fine Arts
1,224,000
1,216,000
1,405,000
1,768,000
1,893,000
1,893,000
Institute of American Indian, and Alaska
4,490,000
5,454,000
6,173,000
5,916,000
6,300,000
6,300,000
Native Culture and Arts Development
Holocaust Memorial Council
36,028,000
38,412,000
39,505,000
40,858,000
43,233,000
41,880,000
Arts in Educationd
30,000,000
33,779,000
35,071,000
35,633,000
0
na
a. With the exception of the FY2002 number, the NEA Grants and Administration total now includes the Challenge America Arts Fund.
b. The total for IMLS includes congressional earmarks in FY2002 ($29.5 million), FY2003 ($35.1 million), FY2004 ($32.6 million), and FY2005 ($39.9 million).
c. The top figure for Smithsonian is for Salaries and Expenses. The lower figure in the table is the total (t = total) appropriation including repair and construction.
d. Both IMLS and Arts in Education are under L-HHS-ED appropriations. P.L.108-447 provided final FY2005 appropriations.
na = not available at this time/no action on the particular bill.

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