# 119-hr-9558: 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project Act

119-hr-9558, 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-24).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9558
- As of: 2026-10-24
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-9558
- Congress: 119
- Title: 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-30
- Sponsor: Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 5
- Policy area: Arts, Culture, Religion
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-24

## Summary

**Creates a 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project grant program to fund writers and documentarians in capturing the history, culture, folklore, and lived experience of the American people.** The bill would have the National Endowment for the Arts run a competitive grant program with an advisory panel and editorial oversight to ensure wide and accurate coverage. - Arts organizations, State arts agencies, and fiscally sponsored projects could apply for grants to produce written, photographic, audio, or other documentary works. Funds may pay creator fees, training, editorial work, and related administrative costs. - Individual creators would get paid opportunities, with preference for those experienced in literary arts, journalism, documentary arts, or oral history. - Funded projects must collectively cover urban, suburban, rural, Tribal communities and each major U.S. region to avoid duplication or gaps in coverage. - The NEA Chair must publish editorial standards and contract an editor-in-chief organization to review works for factual accuracy and consistency before public release. - Completed works must be deposited in a public NEA repository and transmitted to the Library of Congress American Folklife Center for archival access. The Chair may arrange publication deals and use revenues to support the Program. - No single grant may exceed 10% of annual Program funds and the Chair may reserve up to 20% of Program funds for administrative costs.

## Cosponsors (5)

- Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10] (D-FL), 2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3] (D-NM), 2026-06-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (D-NY), 2026-06-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5] (D-GA), 2026-06-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-06-30T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New federal grants for creators: benefit, low. This bill would direct the NEA Chair to set up a competitive grant program within 180 days of enactment to pay writers, photographers, oral historians, and similar creators. Eligible applicants would include nonprofit arts organizations, fiscally sponsored projects, State arts agencies and certain…
- Editorial rules and advisory panel: benefit, low. The bill would require the NEA Chair to appoint a five-member advisory panel within 90 days to recommend program guidelines and to publish those recommendations within 90 days of the panel’s start. Before the first grant solicitation, the Chair would publish an editorial framework setting scope, ac…
- Public access to program works: benefit, low. The bill would require the NEA Chair to create a public repository of works produced under the program and to send works the NEA receives to the Library of Congress within 90 days. The Librarian would start an archive program in the American Folklife Center to collect and make drafts and finished w…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-3069: Medicare for All Act
- 119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-hr-5361: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-9558 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9558)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-3069: Medicare for All Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3069)
- [119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7853)
- [119-hr-5361: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5361)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9558 (as of 2026-10-24).