Attachment D: Expedited/emergency request for Paperwork Reduction Act approval

MEMORANDUM
TO: Shagufta Ahmed, Office of Management and Budget Desk Officer
FROM: Sunil Iyengar, Office of Research & Analysis Director and Chief Data Officer, National
Endowment for the Arts
DATE: Nov. 23, 2021
RE: Expedited/emergency request for Paperwork Reduction Act approval
Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 CFR
1320, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) asks that the following collection of
information, “2022 Arts Supplement to the General Social Survey,” be reviewed in accordance
with section 1320.13 Emergency Processing.
The NEA seeks expedited/emergency clearance so that the agency can better monitor and
report to the public the extent to which arts participation in the United States has been
affected uniquely by the COVID-19 pandemic. Arts participation is widely recognized as a
positive indicator of social and civic well-being. Historical data on arts participation rates—as
collected by the NEA in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau—have been included in the
OMB “Social Indicators” that appear under “Performance and Management” in the President’s
annual budget submission. Studies in the U.S. and abroad have established strong positive
relationships between arts participation and health and well-being in individuals. Designed by
the NEA, the 2022 General Social Survey’s Arts Supplement affords the only current vehicle for
reporting how U.S. arts participation has changed as a direct result of the pandemic, and for
identifying which population subgroups have not resumed these activities, and which may be
underserved, having limited access. The NEA will use these data to fulfill its mission of providing
all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation, whether in-person or virtually.
By tracking changes in arts participation during the pandemic, moreover, the NEA will gain a
better understanding of how consumption patterns have affected economic recovery of the
nation’s arts sector. In 2019, arts and cultural industries contributed $919.7 billion, or 4.3
percent, of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and accounted for 5.2 million salaried
workers, earning total compensation of $446 billion. From 2017 to 2019, arts and cultural
production increased at a 3 percent clip, slightly higher than the growth rate for the economy
as a whole. A year before COVID-19 hit the U.S., consumers spent $28.5 billion on admissions to
performing arts events.
Over the last year, academic, government, and industry reports have shown that arts and
cultural employers and businesses are among the hardest hit by the pandemic, and likely will be
the slowest to recover. In a January 2021 white paper produced for FEMA’s Recovery Support
Function Leadership Group, Argonne National Laboratory analysts concluded from multiple
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data sources that “[a]cross the spectrum of artistic and creative endeavors, restrictions on
gatherings, changes in consumer behavior (voluntary or otherwise), and severe unemployment
have taken a devastating toll on the sector.” Recognizing both the outsized economic
contributions of the arts and the disproportionate effects from the pandemic, Congress passed
two successive relief packages (the CARES Act of 2020 and the American Rescue Plan of 2021)
that included stimulus funding for arts jobs and arts and cultural venues and facilities.
Under both pieces of legislation, the NEA received special funds for the purpose of grantmaking
to help the sector in its recovery. The 2022 General Social Survey’s Arts Supplement is a critical
instrument for assessing the pace of that recovery, allowing the NEA to learn—by combining
the survey results with other data sources—whether social and economic conditions for the
arts have improved, as a result of the stimulus funding and other measures, and for which
industries and subpopulations.
The General Social Survey (GSS) is conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago and funded
by the National Science Foundation. It is a nationally representative survey of noninstitutionalized adults in the United States and has been conducted since 1972; it is a leading
source of data about societal changes and trends. In 2012, the GSS featured a “Cultural
Module,” designed by the NEA to ascertain key motivations and barriers affecting arts
participation in the U.S. The NEA had received Paperwork Reduction Act clearance for this
module (OMB Control Number 3135-0132). In the present case, the NEA seeks
expedited/emergency approval because an inability to collect the requested data in time would
prevent the agency from reporting and acting upon vital information about the arts sector’s
recovery from COVID-19, during and after the NEA’s administration of Congressionallyappropriated relief funds.
The NEA already has published a 60-day notice, for this proposed collection, in the Federal
Register (Oct. 25, 2021). When that notice expires, the agency will publish a five-day Federal
Register notice of request for emergency approval. The 2022 GSS Arts Supplement will be
fielded sometime between April and November 2022. Therefore, if expedited/emergency
request is granted, the NEA will submit a normal PRA clearance package, to cover any period
beyond six months.
Thank you for considering this urgent request on behalf of the NEA. We look forward to your
response.

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