House Defeats Plan to Kill NEA, Substitute State Grants

The House on Friday rejected a Republican bid to kill the National Endowment for the Arts and replace it with state grants, and then delayed action on a bill that would dramatically reduce the agency’s budget.

The plan to abolish the agency and send $80 million to the states for arts projects was voted down 271 to 155. The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-Mich.), failed because of an unlikely coalition of NEA supporters--mostly Democrats--and a large bloc of conservative Republicans.

Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.) called the grant plan “nothing but a device by which you accomplish the assassination of the National Endowment for the Arts.”

That is precisely the aim of the conservative Republicans, but several of them opposed Ehlers’ plan because they considered the proposed $80 million in state grants a waste of federal money.

Still pending before the House is an appropriations bill that would cut the NEA’s budget from its current $99.5 million to $10 million. A vote on that measure--which also covers funding for a hodgepodge of other federal agencies--is expected Tuesday.

Even if--as is currently likely--the overall spending bill passes the House with only $10 million for the NEA, the agency’s supporters are confident that the Senate will treat it more generously. And President Clinton has threatened to veto any bill that effectively guts the agency.

“The fight is not over to save the arts in America,” said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

The prospect of ultimately failing in their bid to abolish the NEA--which distributes grants to community orchestras, theater groups, filmmakers, sculptors and other artists--did not stop House Republicans from attacking during Friday’s debate the agency’s purpose and usefulness.