It's been a great week on Capitol Hill for the arts!

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed  a bill 277-130 to make permanent a key tax incentive for charitable giving, the IRA Charitable Rollover. Making this provision permanent has been a key legislative goal of Americans for the Arts for the last decade, as the current cycle of expiration and reinstatement has left many donors unable to maximize their support for charitable work. 

Last Tuesday, ArtBar by Catalyst Club in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shocked arts supporters by announcing it was officially closing. ArtBar is a nonprofit club, with 2,000 members, that generates grant funds through the sale of alcohol. Back on June 11, ArtBar received a citation after it sent a press release about an event to a local paper. The event advertisement had information regarding a cover charge, which the regulation and licensing department said violated the conditions of having a club license from New Mexico.

Last Monday, the San Diego City Council approved $100,000 in extra funding to the troubled San Diego Opera. Due to the opera company’s structural instability and its board’s recommendation to shut down for financial reasons, the city council voted to slash city funding from $383,322 to $160,000.  In the aftermath, over half of the San Diego Opera’s board left and its leadership resigned. Since then, under the guidance of a new board and interim executive director, the company is appearing more stable and successfully raised $2 million through a crowdfunding campaign.

On July 11, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law the final state budget of $36.5 billion, including the appropriation of $12 million to the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). Before signing the Massachusetts budget, Governor Patrick announced on July 7 at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield that he would allocate $15 million to the state’s Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF).

WASHINGTON – July 11, 2014 – Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, in partnership with the National Association of Counties (NACo), will present the 2014 Public Leadership in the Arts Award for County Arts Leadership to Clayton County, Ga., on Sunday, July 13, 2014 at the NACo annual conference in New Orleans, La.

Last month, Beaumont, TX students took to the state capitol in Austin to fight for their right to quality arts education.  Throughout June, the Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) in Texas has been under some unique pressure to fix a budget problem. 

Jay Dick, Americans for the Arts' Senior Director of State and Local Government Affairs, was sworn in as a Comissioner for the Virginia Commission on the Arts last month and will serve a 5 year term with them starting July 1, 2014.

Americans for the Arts announced today that ten state teams would join a three-year pilot program to strengthen arts education by advancing state policy. Announced at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ legislative summit in Minneapolis, the ten states entering the pilot program are:

Today, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee advanced legislation (H.R. 4619) to make the IRA Charitable Rollover tax provision permanent in the U.S. tax code, as part of a markup of 5 bills highlighting the U.S. tax code’s impact on charitable giving.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Interior Appropriations Subcommittee approved legislation on a voice-vote to fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other cultural institutions like the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Smithsonian Institution. Although the budget situation has improved from last year, the subcommittee has proposed another direct funding cut to the NEA—a decrease of $8 million from the current funding level, to $138 million.

Kerry Washington, actress and arts education advocate, wrote to the Huffington Post on May 20 about the real-life story of Kechelle from Anacostia in Washington, DC and the story of many other students like her whose lives were transformed in Turnaround Arts schools across the country. 

President Obama visited Chicago last week to designate the Pullman neighborhood as a national monument. This designation will help to protect the remains of the Pullman Palace Car Company’s factory in Chicago, and preserve other buildings that were once part of the quintessential planned company town.

Last Friday, June 19, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed off on capping the state's film tax credit program at $180 million. In the bill, a provision stipulates that film productions will not be able cash in on awarded film credit until the middle of 2016. The law will also place a limit of issuing no more than $30 million per film, which could impact large productions selecting Louisiana to film.

As part of Americans for the Arts' ongoing initative to support our veterans and their families by helping them heal through the arts, we have recently partnered with We Are Veterans, a collaboration of local PBS stations, partner organizations, veteran service organizations, and communities to leverage resources to raise awareness about the well-being of veterans and their families.

Today, the U.S. Senate approved legislation in subcommittee to level-fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the coming fiscal year. It was the first time in nearly six years that the Senate considered the underlying legislation.

Also today, the U.S. House approved its appropriations bill in full committee, also level-funding the agencies.

U.S. House Representatives Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have introduced legislation that would permanently extend the IRA Charitable Rollover Provision. 

On May 15, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held an Open Meeting to consider whether to advance a notice of proposed agency rulemaking on net neutrality. The notice was considered in light of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals’ remand of portions of the FCC’s previous 2010 Open Internet Order in January 2014 in its decision in Verizon v. FCC.

Film and television professionals met at the Montclair Film Festival on May 4th to discuss concerns over the New Jersey film tax credit program’s 2015 sunset date.

Arts Advocacy Day 2014 on March 24-25 brought together 500 arts advocates from 45 states to Washington, D.C., last month for National Arts Advocacy Day, which is organized by Americans for the Arts and cosponsored by more than 85 national organizations. In a time where the arts are currently facing many challenges and there are many voices competing for the same pool of money on Capitol Hill, the timing of this event couldn't have been better.

Marete Wester, Senior Director of Arts Policy at Americans for the Arts, took part in the Global Alliance for Arts & Health’s conference in Houston, April 9-12. The Global Alliance, a long-time partner with Americans for the Arts, celebrated the 25^th Anniversary of its founding with more than 300 of its worldwide members including professionals, students and organizations in the arts, humanities and medicine.

On Tuesday, March 25, 2014, Americans for the Arts President & CEO, Robert Lynch, was re-appointed by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to serve a second two-year term on the U.S. Travel & Tourism Advisory Board. The Board, with 32 members, serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce and its members represent a broad cross-section of the industry, including transportation services, financial services, and hotels and restaurants, as well as a mix of other small and large firms from across the country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans for the Arts will be joined by more than 500 grassroots advocates from across the country on March 24–25, 2014, as they meet with members of Congress to encourage support of arts funding and education. Arts Advocacy Day is made possible by 85 national cosponsors, and is produced to create positive action on the many issues facing the arts in 2014, including tax reform, budget cuts and education reauthorization.

Today, the Obama Administration released its FY 2015 budget request to Congress, which includes funding for the nation's cultural agencies and programs, such as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Office of Museum Services, and the Department of Education's Arts In Education program.

Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts stated the following:

Just in time for the 2013 holiday season, Rhode Island is elimintating the state tax on artwork and liquor. Starting Dec. 1, the sales tax for any original or limited edition works of art was eliminated as the state launches a first-in-the-nation statewide arts district. Additionally, starting Dec. 1, wine and spirits purchased from a liquor store in Rhode Island will no longer carry a 7-percent sales tax, but beer and other alcoholic beverages will. State Tax Administrator David M.

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, today announced that Peter Eom and Liisi LaFontaine were this year’s recipients of the National Arts Policy Roundtable Fellowship, an award given annually to alumni of the National YoungArts Foundation.

From September 18-21, over 50 select top level decision makers and thought leaders from the fields of business, government, the social sector, education, and the arts gathered together at two events held at the Sundance Institute: Americans for the Arts’ 2013 National Arts Policy Roundtable (NAPR) and our Executive Leadership Forum (ELF). 

In partnership with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), Americans for the Arts launched The National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military in January 2012. This Initiative advances the arts in health, healing, and healthcare for military service members, veterans, their families, and their caregivers.

Sundance Institute and Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, today released a new report based on findings from the most recent National Arts Policy Roundtable.

Sundance Institute and Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, released a report based on findings from the annual National Arts Policy Roundtable (NAPR)  led by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute founder and president, and  Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts.