New Jersey Stage 2017: Issue 2 | Page 117

Popular Domestic Programs Face Ax Under First Trump Budget ( New York Times )

That phrase keeps echoing in my brain as 2017 shepherds in political turmoil accompanied by tense but much-needed discourse . The pervasive undercurrent , in many instances , is a rediscovered energy to “ come to the aid of our country .” The day before the inauguration , arts advocates heard an early call . An article in The Hill said that transition team advisors to the President are calling for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities , and privatizing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting . To this day , there has been no official White House confirmation of this plan . The Hill article is about two transition team members who put together suggestions for the FY2018 Trump budget proposal . Both of these individuals worked for the Heritage Foundation , which has been calling for the NEA to be shut down since 1997 . It ’ s not clear if their suggestions will be incorporated into a Trump budget proposal to Congress . That being said , The Hill article was enough to mobilize grassroots arts advocates around the nation . Can advocates prevent this from happening ? If so , what can you do and what should you do to preserve federal funding for arts and culture until the budget is released in early March ?

NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol . 4 No . 2

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