Obama’s Budget: The Cultural Cutback List

President Obama
Photo: whitehouse.gov

President Obama today rolled out his proposed 2011 austerity budget, so let’s comb his list of Terminations, Reductions and Savings for culture cuts.

But first, here’s news that I couldn’t find on the “reductions” list. In response to my query, Victoria Hutter, spokesperson for the National Endowment for the Arts, has just informed me:

In the President’s budget, the NEA is to receive $161.315 million for fiscal 2011 which is the same that he proposed for fiscal 2010 [but less than the $167.5 million that Congress ultimately allocated for fiscal 2010].

Regarding how this will affect [NEA chairman] Rocco [Landesman]‘s plans, given the economic realities and fiscal pressures that the country continues to face, the fact that the President has maintained his request for the NEA is encouraging. Also, Rocco continues to talk with other federal agencies about how we can collaborate and those conversations continue to be encouraging.

As for individual artists, Rocco has said that he would like to restore the individual artist grants, but also that it is not his to unilaterally change. Individual artist grants are not something that are on the priority list to take up in his first year, but something he will get to before he is done.

The President’s 2011 request for the National Endowment for the Humanities was identical to that for the NEA. Like the NEA, NEH received an allocation of $167.5 million for fiscal 2010.

As of last Thursday, Landesman was still hitting his talking points about the inadequacy of his agency’s current budget and his plan to ask Congress to allow him to reinstate artists fellowships. I strongly support him on both counts. But I’m not optimistic about either, especially in times when the arts, once again, are in danger of being considered a budgetary frill.

That said, here’s the Presidential cultural cutback list:

—TERMINATION: SAVE AMERICA’S TREASURES AND PRESERVE AMERICA
Department of the Interior

2010 allocation: $30 million
2011 request: 0

The Administration proposes to eliminate the Save America’s Treasures (SAT) and Preserve America (PA) grant programs so the National Park Service can focus resources on managing national parks and other activities that most closely align with its core mission. The SAT and PA programs have not demonstrated how they contribute to nationwide historic preservation goals.

—REDUCTION: COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS

2010 allocation: $10 million
2011 request: $5 million

The Administration proposes to reduce funding for National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs (NCACA)
grants from $9.5 million to $4.5 million, and to convert administration of these grants from a non-competitive
to a competitive awards process. NCACA grants support arts organizations in the District of Columbia.

NCACA grants were established by the Congress in 1986 as a non-competitive Federal grant program
that provides funding for overhead costs to local D.C. arts institutions, such as the Woolly Mammoth Theater,
the Kennedy Center, the National Building Museum, the National Symphony Orchestra, and Ford’s Theater,
among others. Rather than allocating funds based on performance or need, NCACA funds are allocated to
24 specific organizations based on a 25 year-old formula.

Some recipients receive Federal funds from other
programs; for instance, the Kennedy Center received over $40 million in 2010 appropriations, and the
benefits of its NCACA grant awards (which have averaged around $600,000 in recent years) have not been
demonstrated. The Budget recommends reducing the amount of funding for NCACA grants by $5 million,
and awarding $4.5 million for NCACA grants on a competitive basis to support organizations with the
greatest need.

—REDUCTION: NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS

Department of the Interior

2010 allocation: $18 million
2011 request: $9 million

The Administration proposes to reduce grants to non-Federal National Heritage Areas (NHAs) so that
the National Park Service can focus resources on managing national parks and other activities that most
closely align with its core mission. State and local managers of NHAs continue to rely on Federal funding,
contrary to the original intent that Federal grants would be time-limited and NHAs would become
self-sufficient. The NHA program also lacks key management controls to determine whether Federal funds
are well spent and used to accomplish national goals.

The Congress has authorized 49 National Heritage Areas [my link, not theirs] (NHAs), including 30 since 2000. Local
organizations administer NHAs to promote tourism and protect natural and cultural resources. The NPS
Heritage Partnership program provides technical assistance and grants, authorized up to $1 million annually
for up to 10 to 15 years that serve as “seed money” to help NHA organizations become established. Since
1986, the Congress has appropriated more than $150 million for NHA grants.

The Administration proposes to focus NHA grants on recently authorized areas and eliminate funds to
those well-established recipients that have not worked to become self-sufficient. Since 1984 when the first
NHA was designated, 17 areas reached or nearly reached their original sunset dates, but received extensions
and continue to receive funding.

Criteria has [sic] not been established to evaluate potentially qualified NHA
sites for designation. As a result, sites have been authorized that do not necessarily warrant designation.
The program also lacks key management controls to determine whether Federal funds are well spent.

The Administration proposes a merit-based tiered system to allocate funding. NHAs established before
2001 would be ineligible for new base funding unless they have self-sufficiency plans as of February 1, 2010.
NHAs established after 2001 would be eligible to receive a base allocation. All other NHAs that have
Department of the Interior-approved management plans would be eligible to compete for additional grants
that the NHA program would award using merit-based criteria.