ARTS, CULTURE AND RECREATION 

FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR THE ARTS, HUMANITIES AND MUSEUMS

WHEREAS, the arts, humanities and museums are critical to the quality of life and livability of America's cities; and

WHEREAS, the National Endowment for the Arts' and the National Endowment for the Humanities' thirty plus years of promoting cultural heritage and vitality throughout the nation has built a cultural infrastructure in this nation of arts and humanities agencies in every state and 3,800 local arts agencies in cities throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Office of Museum Services (OMS) within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are the primary federal agencies that provide federal funding for the arts, humanities and museum programs, activities, and efforts in the cities and states of America; and

WHEREAS, federal funding serves as a catalyst to leverage additional dollars for cultural activity — the annual federal investment made to these three agencies (NEA @ $98 million; NEH @ $110.7 million; and OMS @ $23 million) leverages up to 12 times that amount from state and local governments, private foundations, corporations and individuals in communities across the nation to support the highest quality cultural programs in the world; and

WHEREAS, federal funding for cultural activities stimulates local economies and improves the quality of civic life throughout the country — the NEA, NEH and IMLS support programs that enhance community development, promote cultural planning, stimulate business development, spur urban renewal, attract new businesses, draw significant cultural tourism dollars, and improve the overall quality of life in our cities and towns; and

WHEREAS, the nonprofit arts industry generates $36.8 billion annually in economic activity and supports 1.3 million jobs — from large urban to small rural communities, the nonprofit arts industry annually returns $3.4 billion in federal income taxes, $1.2 billion in state government revenue and $790 million in local government revenue; and

WHEREAS, federal arts funding to cities, towns and states has helped stimulate the growth of 3,800 local arts agencies in America's cities and counties and $675 million annually in local government funding to the arts and humanities; and

WHEREAS, federal funding for cultural activities is essential to promote full access to and participation in exhibits, performances, arts education and other cultural events regardless of geography and family income; and

WHEREAS, the NEA is in a highly precarious position since Congress has not re-authorized this agency since 1993 and suffered a disproportionate 39 percent cut in federal funding in fiscal year 1996 – bringing its budget down to 1977 levels – and Congress has targeted this agency for complete elimination this year; and

WHEREAS, last year’s cuts to the NEA's and NEH's budget are having a negative effect on the cultural infrastructure and survival of arts and humanities institutions, arts organizations, artists, and cultural programming at the national, state and local level; and

WHEREAS, the delicate balance in shared responsibility and partnership for public funding of the arts and humanities at the federal, state and local government levels is now in serious jeopardy since local governments cannot make up for the current and future funding cuts in the federal government’s share; and

WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors has issued official letters to the President and leaders of the U.S. Senate and House, signed by more than 200 of the nation’s mayors, to save federal funding for the arts and humanities; and

WHEREAS, a number of countries have promoted the importance of the arts and humanities to ministry and cabinet-level departments,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors reaffirms its support of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Office of Museum Services within the Institute of Museum and Library Services and calls upon Congress to fund these agencies at the President’s FY ‘99 request level in order to fulfill the federal government’s responsibility to help make the arts accessible to all Americans for the social, economic and cultural well-being of the American public, as well as to help sustain this nation’s cultural infrastructure for public support of the arts and humanities at the federal, state and local levels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors calls upon the President and Congress to reauthorize the NEA and NEH and to oppose any attempts to eliminate or phase-out our federal cultural agencies; to oppose reducing their budgets; to oppose mandating that all funds be blockgranted to the states; and to allow local arts agencies to subgrant federal grants.