National Issues
Advocacy efforts at the national level include monitoring and informing the
efforts by Congress and the Executive Branch in Washington, D.C. to adequately
recognize and fund arts and culture. Our advocacy partner, American
for the Arts (AFTA) , and our national funder, National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA), often promote national advocacy campaigns
for the arts.
For the last few years, RACC has been a partner in AFTA's national arts education
campaign — Art. Ask for More, encouraging
our local community to support more arts education in the schools.
Latest News
4/1/08 House Passes Artist Visa Immigration Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1312, The Arts Require Timely Service Act (ARTS), introduced by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA). The bill would require U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reduce the total processing times for visas filed by nonprofit arts-related organizations and has been an issue for arts advocates on Capitol Hill. Currently, foreign nonprofit organizations are supposed to have their petitions processed within 2 weeks of receipt, but delays at USCIS have made that timeline unpredictable, leaving many performers and artists unable to plan for their engagements in a consistent manner which causes financial burdens on nonprofit arts organizations, the international artist, and the local artists that are scheduled to perform alongside the international guest. In addition, USCIS adopted a premium processing fee of $1,000 for expedited 15-day service that many organizations are unable to afford. The ARTS bill corrects this by reducing the total processing time to no longer than 45 days, with petitions not processed within 30 days to be provided the 15-day premium processing at no extra cost. It is not known when the Senate might consider the legislation. For further information, please contact Associate Director for Federal Affairs Gladstone Payton at gpayton@artsusa.org. (issued by Americans for the Arts)
RACC Staff to Contact
Mary Bauer
Communications Associate
503.823.5426
mbauer@racc.org
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