Advocacy Alert - July 7, 2021

In this Alliance Advocacy Alert:

• Act Now: Contact Congress in Support of FY 2022 OMS Funding
• Invite Congress to Visit Your Museum: Top 4 Reasons to Participate
• Learn and share: NCN Special Report on Investing Coronavirus Recovery Funds in Nonprofits

Contact Representatives to Support the Office of Museum Services (OMS)

The annual congressional appropriations process for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 is ramping up. The House Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies appropriations measure, which includes funding for OMS within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), is currently expected to be considered July 12 by the relevant subcommittee and July 15 by the full House Appropriations Committee. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee in the Interior Appropriations bill approved $201 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which if enacted would be historic increases of $33.5 million for each agency. We're working toward a similar success for OMS and you can help.

What You Can Do 

Now is a critical time to make sure your Representative knows how much their support of this funding matters to constituents like you, and as the Alliance's recent survey shows, many museums are struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Take a moment right now, using our quick and easy template, to contact your Representative in support of OMS funding at IMLS, especially if they are a member of the Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee listed below. It takes just a few clicks to personalize and send your message.

Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-03), Chair

Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40)

Barbara Lee (D-CA-13)

Mark Pocan (D-WI-02)

Katherine M. Clark (D-MA-05)

Lois Frankel (D-FL-21)

Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17)

Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12)

Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI-14)

Josh Harder (D-CA-10)

Tom Cole (R-OK-04), Ranking Member

Andy Harris (R-MD-01)

Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03)

Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-03)

John Moolenaar (R-MI-04)

Ben Cline (R-VA-06)

Top 4 Reasons to Participate in #InviteCongress to Visit Your Museum:

• Legislators are looking for ways to connect with the community and their constituents, especially as communities re-open this summer. Make your museum their community connection and your legislators could be tweeting about their visits with your museum!
• Build critical relationships. Having strong relationships with legislators and their staffs and offices is a key building block of effective advocacy for museums over time. Direct interaction with the people they represent (you!) has more impact on legislators and staff than any other advocacy activity. Engaging legislators and staff with a virtual or in-person meeting, tour, or program is a powerful way to create and continue needed long-term relationships with elected officials. Tell your story as only you and your museum can.
• Raise the visibility of your museum while making the case for museums. Legislators will be considering legislation that will have direct and profound impacts on museums in the coming weeks and months. We must speak up and ensure museums are on legislators' radar during this time, such as urging them to include museums in the infrastructure bill.
• AAM makes it easy! Our detailed How-To Guide includes step-by-step instructions, templates, and resources for inviting your legislators and preparing for your events.

We love hearing about your efforts, send us a note about your #InviteCongress activities.

NCN Special Report on Investing Coronavirus Recovery Funds in Nonprofits

In March, Congress made it clear that states, local governments, Tribes, and territories can invest any portion of the $350 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds allocated to them in charitable nonprofits. But Congress did not require governments to provide nonprofits relief and recovery assistance; that is up to each individual state, county, and city to decide. This National Council of Nonprofits Special Report, Strengthening State and Local Economies in Partnership with Nonprofits: Principles, Recommendations, and Models for Investing Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, is designed to guide governments and nonprofits through the process and toward partnerships for the public good.

This new resource contains principles, recommendations, and models that can be shared with state and local officials to show the importance of working with nonprofits, including museums, to restore local economies. It also offers nearly four dozen different models of programs - including museum examples provided by the Alliance - from across the country to provide funding for nonprofits to serve local communities. Share it with your city, state and county elected officials to build relationships and encourage investments in museums and nonprofits.

Visit www.aam-us.org/advocacy to access all of AAM's advocacy resources.