Federal funding for creative arts

Federal arts funding has fallen since 1980. While Democratic Congresses and presidents traditionally championed funding for the NEA, the funding had expanded between 2000 and 2008, when Republicans led both branches of government. Strong growth was seen in 2009 and 2010 in response to the Democrat-led Congress, including an NEA funding expansion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In turn, NEA funding reached its highest level since 1995 in 2010. However, the Republican-led Congress elected in 2010 has prioritized shrinking the massive federal deficit and arts funding is one of the programs on the chopping block. In turn, funding for creative arts declined sharply from 2011 to 2015, excluding a 3.76% boost in 2014, which needed to be more significant to offset these losses.

In real terms, federal funding for creative arts increased by 3.3% in 2020 as the government expanded overall spending to support businesses across the economy in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. In particular, the arts and cultural industries received $75.0 million under the CARES Act in 2020. Even as the NEA received more funding granted by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, appropriations remained 1.3% lower than the year before, which can be attributed to various factors, one being that the dollar started to boost in the year, which culls a more substantial need for additional funding to match the gradual climbing of prices in the period. However, funding climbed at a more mediated rate of 0.4% in 2022, which can be attributed to a more significant boost in the budget for the organization that Congress approved in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022. However, funding also scaled down to 11.0% in 2023 following revisions to how much the NEA received by Congress. But funding is set to incline in 2024 and 2025 as changes in priorities and the deadlocked Congress at the moment will present headwinds for more substantial funding to get realized in the years ahead, with these organizations becoming more subject to scrutiny from a divided Congress, especially over matters like resolving the national debt in the country that will leave such organizations funding endanger.