GOV. HEALEY APPROVES $27 MILLION FOR MASS CULTURAL COUNCIL IN FY26
Updated July 31, 2025
On July 4, 2025, Gov. Healey signed into law a $60.9 billion FY26 Budget amidst ongoing concerns about economic forecasting and rescinded federal funding to the Commonwealth.
Through signing the budget into law, Gov. Healey approved $26,975,152 in funding for the Mass Cultural Council’s operating and grantmaking budget for the current fiscal year. Broken down, this line item amounts to $26,045,152 for the agency’s operations and $930,000 to support 19 earmarks for local arts and cultural projects. The budget also includes $4,715,621 for the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and an earmark providing Massachusetts’ first-ever Poet Laureate with a $25,000 honorarium.
This follows months-long advocacy by the MASSCreative coalition and leaders across the Commonwealth’s creative sector who started the FY26 Budget cycle by urging the Healey-Driscoll Administration and Legislature to pass $28 million for the agency.
On April 30th, 2025, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its H.4001 budget, including $26,775,152 for the Mass Cultural Council. On May 22, 2025, the Massachusetts Senate passed its S.2525 budget and approved $26,245,152 for the Mass Cultural Council. This year’s budget is the highest operating budget ever approved for the agency, continuing the decade-long trend of increasing resources for the Mass Cultural Council.
Shortly after passing the FY26 Budget, the Healey-Driscoll Administration also released its 5-year capital spending plan, which included investing $10 million in the Cultural Facilities Fund.
In the face of economic uncertainties, we are grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration, Legislature, and to the countless advocates who fought for these investments.
