President's Proposed Budget Includes N.E.A. Increase February 13, 2012, 6:05 pm President Obama did not forget the National Endowment for the Arts when he released the details of his proposed budget on Monday. The budget would raise the agency's annual spending to $154.255 million, an increase of more than $8 million over the current level. Both the president and the chairman of the endowment, Rocco Landesman, emphasized the economic benefits of spending money on the arts. "A dollar invested directly through the NEA is matched by $8 of additional investment and generates $26 of economic activity in the community," Mr. Landesman said in a statement. In short, art works. Of the proposed increase, $4 million would go directly to not-for-profit arts organizations and $2.7 million would go to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations.