Actors’ Equity Vows To Fight Donald Trump’s Proposed NEA Elimination
Calling President Donald Trump’s proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts “short-sighted at best,” Actors’ Equity Association has vowed to continue fighting what has become an annual Trump tradition.
“For the third consecutive year, the Trump administration’s budget has proposed the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts,” said Equity president Kate Shindle in a statement. “Given that the arts drive a larger share of America’s economy than transportation, tourism, agriculture and construction, this proposed elimination is short-sighted at best.
Related stories
Stephen Colbert Diagnoses Donald Trump's Deranged Sunday Tweetstorm
PBS Chief Paula Kerger Responds To Third Donald Trump Push To De-Fund
“The NEA is a vital program that creates middle-class jobs in every Congressional district in the nation, which is exactly why a bipartisan majority in Congress has twice rejected President Trump’s proposals to eliminate it. Actors’ Equity will continue fighting to protect the NEA’s critical seed funding that helps theatrical productions get off the ground all across the country.”
Trump submitted his record-high $4.75 trillion 2020 budget proposal to Congress last week, calling for increases in military spending and funding of his Wall, with big cuts to domestic programs including education, the arts and humanities, environmental protection and Medicaid and Medicare.
Equity is the national labor union representing professional actors and stage managers in live theatre. Earlier this month, Equity, a national sponsor of Arts Advocacy Day, held 34 meetings with Republican and Democratic offices during the annual Advocacy Day to make direct appeals to Congress “about the importance of the NEA.”
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
