TERMINATIONS, REDUCTIONS, AND SAVINGS 131

REDUCTION: NATIONAL CAPITAL ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS GRANT PROGRAM

Commission of Fine Arts

The Administration proposes to reduce funding for the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs (NCACA)
grants from $9.5 million to $5 million, and to transform this program to a competitive grants program
administered by the District of Columbia. NCACA grants currently support a small group of art organizations
in the District of Columbia.

Justification
NCACA grants were established by the Congress in 1986 as a non-competitive Federal grant program
that provides funding for overhead costs to support artistic and cultural programs in the District of Columbia,
such as the Washington National Opera, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Choral Arts
Society, Arena Stage and the National Children's Museum, among others. The funds are provided based
on a 25 year-old formula and do not address performance factors or the actual needs of an organization. In
fact, the formula provides the largest amount of funds to those recipients with the highest annual income.
The organizations must have an annual income, exclusive of Federal or pass-through Federal funds, in
excess of $1 million for each of the three years prior to their application for the grant. No post-award
follow-up is performed to check on what the grants have accomplished. In general, these institutions are
also able to apply for Federal funding from other resources. For example, in 2009, the Meridian International
Center received approximately $21 million in Federal funding from the Department of State and the Trade
and Development Agency, and approximately $342,000 (approximately 5.5 percent of its operating income)
from the NCACA grant.

The Budget recommends reducing the amount of funding for NCACA grants by $5 million, and transferring
the administration of NCACA grants from the Commission on Fine Arts, a Federal entity, to the District of
Columbia Commission on Arts and Humanities to fund, on a competitive basis, local entities whose primary
purpose is performing, exhibiting, and/or presenting the arts in the District. This will result in grants being
awarded more reliably to non-profit art organizations that serve the people of the District .