The House resumed floor consideration of the FY16 Interior Bill on July 7 after the Independence Day recess. This bill contains the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Representatives began debating the bill at the end of June but had not discussed the cultural agencies before the break. Both the House Interior Subcommittee and the full Appropriations Committee approved $146 million for the NEA–level funding with last year. Many of you took action for the arts and asked your Representative to preserve this amount and vote against any amendments to the Interior bill that could reduce it. 

Floor consideration was stalled and the bill was pulled from the House floor after controversy surrounding a vote about the confederate flag being displayed on cemeteries on federal land.  In the Senate, an Interior Bill has not yet been sent to the floor for debate, however both the Interior Subcommittee and full Appropriations Committee approved $146 million for the NEA in FY16.