Arts funding: Federal budget includes money for arts, PBS

The new federal spending bill approved this week would spare funding for three arts-related agencies that President Donald Trump had proposed eliminating: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The agreement announced this week calls for the CPB's budget to remain the same, at $445 million. Spending for fiscal 2017 would go up for the NEA and NEH, each from $148 million to $150 million. The three organizations, all started in the 1960s during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, provide money for everything from public television programming to local theaters and scholarly research.

We are glad the money for these programs was approved. We know not everyone agrees that they are important, but we think they are.

The arts community had denounced the proposed cuts in funding for the programs, which have long been advocated by some conservatives. But there are places to cut spending and places where spending is needed. This is one of the latter.

Published in Editorials on May 12, 2017 9:34 AM