The subcommittee met at 10:05 a.m., in room 1224, Everett McKinley Dirksen Office Building, Hon. Ted Stevens presiding. Present: Senators Stevens, Hatfield, and McClure. NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS STATEMENTS OF: LIVINGSTON L. BIDDLE, JR., CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS P. DAVID SEARLES, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, POLICY AND PLANNING MARY ANN TIGHE, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, PROGRAMS L. JAMES EDGY, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS BUDGET REQUEST Senator STEVENS. Good morning. Today we are scheduled to hear the fiscal 1980 budget request of the National Endowment for the Arts. This request totals $154.4 million, an increase of $4.9 million over appropriations to date for fiscal 1979. The justification has already been included in the record. In addition to the fiscal 1980 budget, we will also attempt to cover the Endowment's pending $1.4 million supplemental appropriation request for fiscal 1979, for the White House Conference on the Arts, and a February 5 reprograming request. Mr. Biddle, we welcome you again before the committee. As always, your prepared statement will be printed in full in the record. If you would, please introduce those with you this morning and highlight your statement and your budget request. [The statement follows:] (1279) STATEMENT OF LIVINGSTON L. BIddle, Jr.' It is a pleasure to come before you today to speak on behalf of the budget request for the National Endowment for the Arts. For Fiscal Year 1980, the Arts Endowment requests $154,400,000, an increase of $4,965,000 over the amount appropriated for Fiscal Year 1979. The increase sought is a modest one of three per cent and it is in line with the general moderation of Federal spending as part of President Carter's determined effort to reduce inflation. In this light, even the small increase we are seeking is a sign of the Administration's continuing and strong commitment to public funding of the arts. I might add that the toll inflation extracts from the vitality of arts activity is a heavy one, and makes it much more difficult to bring arts of high quality to a larger and larger public audience. This year, the Endowment's request of $154,400,000 breaks down as follows: $97,000,000 in program funds, a decrease of $5,160,000; $20,000,000 in Treasury Funds, an increase of $12,500,000; $26,900,000 in Challenge Grant funds, a decrease of $3,100,000; and $10,500,000 in administrative funds, an increase of $725,000. This represents a realignment of the Endowment's accounts, with a substantial increase in the Treasury Fund, accounting for virtually all of the increase in the Endowment's request. It is, therefore, important to put this shift in the proper perspective. Grants made through the Treasury Fund require an up-front cash dollar to release an equal amount of money from the Treasury, and the total match required is three non-Federal dollars for each Federal dollar. Unlike the Challenge Grant Program, Treasury Funds are given to support specific projects and, as such, they serve as a supplement to regular programming funds. It is important to note two matters regarding the increase in the Treasury Fund. Firstly, an increase in Treasury Funds is entirely consistent with the Administration's efforts to make each Federal dollar have as much impact as possible. The additional non-Federal investment encouraged by tripling the Treasury Fund is substantial. Nevertheless, it is my belief that the additional support required from the nonFederal sector, public and private, will be provided, and that, as in the past, all of our Treasury Funds will be utilized. Secondly, because Treasury Funds supplement program funds, the total allocation in FY '80 to support the Endowment's discipline program areas, music, theater, dance, etc., might fairly be viewed as $117,000,000 compared to a comparable amount in FY '79 of $109,000,000. As we see it, then, there is some very modest growth in the amounts we would have available for allocation to our discipline program areas, and in these increases the Endowment would seek to redress same long-standing problems and meet same exciting new opportunities. These are as follows: * Literature and Visual Arts. The Endowment believes strongly that the cornerstone of all its efforts is the individual artist. Direct fellowships are one effective way to insure that the Nation's most talented artists can be provided the opportunity to devote full time to their work, and we think it is proper that the Endowment now direct a larger share of its resources into this kind of granting activity. While fellowships are given in a number of Endowment programs, music, theater, architecture, media, dance, the predominent number are provided to writers and visual artists, who, to a much larger degree than in other disciplines, create alone in solitary work. Because their art is generally not a cooperative effort, the organizational structure that serves artists in other disciplines is much less developed in literature and the visual arts, and likely to remain so. The efficient way to encourage our finest writers and visual artists is through expanded assistance to individual artists. * Theater. When the Arts Endowment was established 14 years ago, the 15 large theater companies were located primarily on the East and West coasts. Today, there are 70 large professional theater companies in 51 cities of 31 states, and another 200 smaller professional companies throughout the country. It is not, though, just a matter of numbers. The work produced by these new theaters reflects a flowering of new theater productions, particularly fine new American works. Moreover, our experience indicates that once even limited support and recognition is given by the Theater Program, non-Federal sources of revenue became increasingly available, showing how well the Endowment serves as a catalyst in the growth and development of the arts. The Endowment is requesting an increase to its Theater Program essentially to widen the number of theater companies receiving Endowment encouragement. * Opera-Musical Theater. Within the last year, the National Council an ΤΟ the Arts formally recommended the establishment of a new Opera-Musical Theater Program, a recommendation which we wholeheartedly endorsed. insure the successful beginning of the new program area, and to enable the Arts Endowment to respond to the already growing number of requests prompted by the formation of this Program, an increase is necessary over the amount set aside for opera. Musical theater is one of the few distinctly American art forms. In recent years, financial pressures have mounted to limit the number of new productions. Few new musicals are produced; most that are presented today are revivals. It is to keep musical theater vital that the Endowment has moved to provide more support for this unique American art form. The increase we seek will provide support for a wide variety of musical theater activities and expand the touring activity of opera and musical theater companies. * Media. One of the Endowment's most applauded achievements has been its involvement in bringing to public television programs of arts |