Twelve unions representing more than half a million arts and entertainment professionals nationwide delivered a letter to members of Congress Wednesday opposing proposed elimination of federal funding to the arts and public broadcasting.
Organizations including Actors’ Equity, SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America, East, were signatories to the letter. The groups oppose President Trump’s draft 2018 budget that removes support for CPB, the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. NEA and NEH provide millions of dollars in support to public media initiatives as well as a wide range of cultural projects including music, dance, libraries and fellowships.
“Ending federal support for the NEA, NEH, or CPB would be a radical, unprecedented action that would harm everyday people, particularly individuals who live far from metropolitan cultural centers,” the letter says in part.
In a statement, Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East, said CPB, the NEA and NEH “are essential government expenditures, for not only do they inspire and invigorate the American spirit; they create jobs, generate revenue and ensure the informed citizenry essential to a democracy.”