The House Appropriations Committee has proposed cutting funding to the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities by 49 percent for fiscal year 2014, from $146 million to $75 million for each.
The cuts fall far below President Obama’s proposed NEA and NEH funding levels of $154.5 million, slightly higher than their pre-sequestration levels. Both organizations provide millions of dollars in grants to public broadcasting initiatives every year.
The committee approved the bill containing the cuts Monday, as part of its ongoing series of fiscal year 2014 appropriations bills. The bill will need to pass through the full House and Senate before it reaches the president’s desk.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), committee chairman, said in a statement that the bill “seeks to protect vital programs that directly affect the safety and well-being of Americans, while dramatically scaling back lower-priority, or ‘nice-to-have’ programs.”