TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The Kansas Arts Commission is absorbing a setback from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Kansas Public Radio reports  the NEA told the state commission this week not to bother applying for federal
matching funds next year. That National Endowment says the private  donations Kansas is now counting on to support the arts don’t qualify for the federal match.

Kansas was cut off by the NEA this year after Gov. Sam Brownback abolished the Arts Commission as a state agency and created a foundation to raise private donations.

The NEA later asked Kansas to submit a new proposal that could qualify the state for federal funding next year. The commission was preparing to do just that by an Oct. 31 deadline when it learned of the NEA’s new position.