Advocacy-Public Policy Update

Central Region

By Rachel LaForest, National Public Policy Director

SENATE PASSES NEA INCREASE

Thanks to your efforts…

…on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 the U.S. Senate passed the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which provides $161.3 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a $1.3 million increase over last year's funding!

Earlier this year, the House passed a version of the bill H.R.2996 with a $170 million appropriation for the NEA. The bill now goes into conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two Chambers.

Stay tuned for future Take Actions to ensure that the NEA receives the most adequate funding possible.

The U.S. House Designates "Arts in Education" week in September!

On Monday, July 26th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Con.Res. 275, legislation designating the second week of September as "Arts in Education Week." Authored and introduced by California Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA), this resolution is the first Congressional expression of support celebrating all the disciplines comprising arts education. This is a very positive showing of support for arts education and comes at a key time when Congress is making plans to overhaul federal education policy.

The resolution seeks to support the attributes of arts education that are recognized as instrumental to developing a well-rounded education such as creativity, imagination, and cross-cultural understanding. H.Con.Res. 275 also highlights the critical link between those skills and preparing our children for gaining a competitive edge in the global economy. This is an important message for policy makers to acknowledge as they prepare to reauthorize federal education policy.

We salute Rep. Speier and the more than 101 original cosponsors for their support of arts education and for this truly special recognition of the value of culture for our country's students.

Click here to read a copy of the resolution http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.CON.RES.275:

The new Consumer Information Website, HealthCare.gov, has been launched!

The comprehensive web portal required by The Affordable Care Act went up July 1. It replaces existing websites that provided information on the law and its interpretation.

Its primary purpose is to help individuals and families navigate health care, e.g., unemployed workers looking for coverage to replace employer coverage that they lost. It contains information on all applicable federal laws, links to state government resources, and a huge amount of information on private health plans (currently 5,100 plans) with pricing information scheduled to be added in October.

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