The House Appropriations Committee has recommended $149,849,000 for the NEA’s FY17 budget. This amount is equal to the President’s FY17 request for the agency, and is a $2 million increase over the NEA’s FY16 budget.  The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $148,449,000–just a $500,000 increase over FY16.  Both House and Senate appropriators lauded the work of the NEA’s Healing Arts Partnership which serves veterans and their families. Increased funding is to support current program sites and will help the program expand to new sites in the near future. The next step in the regular order for appropriations bills is for the full House and Senate to debate and vote on their respective bills.