The 2013 budget proposed by President Obama includes many cuts made to conform with new spending limits. But several arts and cultural institutions saw their allotment rise by about 5 percent in the proposed plan. The proposed spending of $1.576 billion — in a budget of $3.8 trillion — includes some good news for the Smithsonian Institution and the National Endowments for the Arts.

For the Newscast desk, Elizabeth Blair filed this report:

"NEA grants go to more than 2,000 nonprofits, including state and regional arts councils. Since 2010, Congress has cut the agency by about $22 million. President Obama's budget includes $157 million for the arts agency, an increase of $8 million from the previous year."

"The Smithsonian would get $857 million, an increase of $47 million that would help fund construction of the African-American History museum, and renovations to the National Zoo and American History museum."

But as The Los Angeles Times reports, "if Congress approves the president's proposal for the fiscal year that begins in October 2012, the NEA and NEH will still be well short of the $167.5 million each was set to receive before two separate rounds of cuts instigated by Congressional Republicans during 2011."

You can read NPR's analysis of the budget — and what it means for specific areas, like space exploration, energy and transportation, here.

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Source: NPR