Grammy Organizers ‘Alarmed’ By Trump’s Proposed Arts Funding Cuts
The Recording Academy called President Donald Trump‘s proposal to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts “shortsighted and alarming.” The administration sent its 2018 budget proposal to Congress Thursday, and along with cutting the NEA, it proposed eliminating several other arts and culture programs.
“Love of music and the arts brings us together, and celebrates the richness of American culture and our spirit of curiosity and creativity,” the Grammy organizers said in a statement. “Music and art serve as one of America’s greatest exports, and support jobs for creators in cities, towns and rural areas across the country. The White House proposal to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts is shortsighted and alarming.”
Per the Washington Post, the proposed Trump budget would cut the full $971 million spent on arts and cultural agencies. Under that umbrella is the NEA and National Endowment for the Humanities ($148 million, each), the Institute of Museum and Library services ($230 million) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports PBS and NPR ($445 million). In all, these programs make up .02 percent of the total federal budget.
In its statement, the Recording Academy continued: “The modest support that we provide to music and the arts is returned many times over, whether measured in jobs and economic impact, or sheer cultural enrichment and introspection. The Recording Academy will ask Congress to maintain funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and renew our commitment to America’s creators.”
Along with eliminating funding for arts and culture programs, the Trump administration’s budget proposes ending funding for numerous services that help the poor and elderly. The Trump administration also proposed massive cuts to every federal agency except Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.
Congress will make changes to the budget going forward, so some of the cuts in the Trump proposal could be reversed. Per The New York Times, government funding for the current fiscal year runs out April 28th, and the 2018 budget needs to be in place by October.