With new constellation of fiscal issues in DC, the future of
funding for the arts, including poetry, is serious. One of the most effective
advocacy groups is Americans for the Arts Action Fund, which has a useful website full
of facts about economic as well as personal benefits of the arts.http://www.artsactionfund.org/ One of the most active spokespersons for the arts is David Fenza, executive director of the
Associated Writers and Writing Programs and poet (recent work in American Poetry Review). He sent out this commentary about the election aftermath:
“What's mainly changed in arts advocacy is that the House has a
few more rookies, and more rookies who are smaller-government zealots. The NEA
and Americans for the Arts have never done a better job in quantifying the
economic and educational benefits of the arts. But these many studies hold no
sway over the advocates of smaller government in the House. The Senate,
however, will continue to serve as the saucer into which we may pour the
fulminations of the House to cool, to echo George Washington.
"The automatic "sequester" budget cuts remains the
biggest threat to the NEA, and the possibility of Congress triggering another
recession is probably the biggest immediate general threat to arts
organizations, to arts education, and to AWP. Tax reform may also diminish the
incentives for charitable giving to arts organizations, but Congress seems
incapable of addressing tax reform expeditiously.
"The sequester, the federal budget, tax reform, and the federal
debt ceiling all require immediate attention. Just one of these issues, in the
past, has been enough to inspire Congress to enact a spectacle rather than a
compromise. Unfortunately, rough handling of the sequester, debt ceiling, or
tax reform could trigger a recession. Probably, Congress will pass legislation
to defer the sequester and then pass a continuing resolution to fund government
at last year's levels--rather than make a new budget--while they renew some or
most of the Bush tax cuts for a limited duration in a stop-gap half-measure.
For Congress, it's always best to postpone till next year whatever requires
compromise this year.”
Thanks to Fenza for permission to reprint his lucid summary. For
more information, see
http://www.artsactionfund.org/
