FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2022 - The Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) omnibus appropriations bill is headed to the president’s desk to become law after passing the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. This legislation contains numerous victories for union creative professionals, including increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) at $207 million each and for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at $310.23 million. 

“Increasing NEA and NEH funding to $207 million each for FY23 was a top priority for creative professionals and their unions due to the agencies’ critical role in supporting good-paying, family-supporting jobs in every state and congressional district,” said Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) President Jennifer Dorning. “This victory would not have been achieved without the grassroots advocacy of union creative professionals. $207 million in FY23 funding brings us an important step closer to our goal of a historical full funding level of $331 million, or $1 per capita, for both the NEA and NEH. I commend Representative Chellie Pingree and Senator Jeff Merkley for their championing of arts funding, and I am grateful for the bipartisan supporters of the arts and arts professionals in both the House and Senate.”

“Furthermore, the omnibus increases funding for the NLRB by $25 million. This is the agency’s first funding increase in 10 years, and it is needed to keep Board staff on the job to enforce private sector professionals’ workplace rights,” said Dorning.

The FY23 omnibus legislation also includes important funding increases for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 

“Union journalists and creative professionals work directly for public media stations and help create the content that stations distribute. Public broadcasting has earned its bipartisan support among the American people because of the high-quality, educational content that these union members deliver to people in every corner of the country,” said Dorning.

Finally, Congress did not come to an agreement on a tax package, meaning the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA) will not become law this Congress. 

“I applaud Congress for coming together to pass FY23 omnibus legislation. While it is disappointing that tax fairness for entertainment workers will not be restored by this Congress, union creative professionals remain committed to passing PATPA in the next Congress,” said Dorning. 

About DPE

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.