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$25 Million for the Kennedy Center?

Washington, D.C., April 8, 2020

Before the ink had even dried on the recent coronavirus stimulus legislation, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which received $25 million in emergency funding as part of that bill, turned around and announced layoffs.

Obviously we can (and should) debate whether your tax dollars should be used to fund the Kennedy Center when we're $23 trillion... no, wait... now $24+ trillion in the hole. But the problem here is that the Kennedy Center said these funds were necessary, in part, to help offset furloughs. After all, that's some of what this third stimulus bill is supposed to help with nationwide.

So if the Kennedy Center were to go through with furloughs, shouldn't they return a big chunk of the $25 million? That's one of the questions I posed to the Center's leadership yesterday along with seven of my Republican colleagues in the House.

Shortly after that letter was sent, the Kennedy Center reversed course on furloughs. Instead, they announced a negotiated reduction in pay for many employees. Clearly those negotiations would have been in-progress before our letter arrived, but this entire situation goes to show the importance of strong Congressional oversight into how your tax dollars are spent.

Additional info: https://bit.ly/kennedy-smh