UPDATES ON THE FY26 STATE HOUSE & SENATE BUDGETS
Published June 3, 2025
On April 30th, 2025, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its H.4001 budget, including $26,775,152 for the Mass Cultural Council. This is $730,000 higher than the number Gov. Healey proposed in her H.1 Budget in January.
On May 22, 2025, the Massachusetts Senate passed its S.2525 budget and approved $26,245,152 for the Mass Cultural Council, which is higher than the amount that Gov. Healey proposed but less than the House.
The House and Senate budgets will now be negotiated by a Conference Committee, which is made up of six legislators—three Senators and three Representatives. There, the budgets will be merged into a single compromise bill that must be voted on and passed in both chambers and then sent to the Governor for approval.
Here are the updates to the policies the MASSCreative Action Network has been tracking for the state budget:
Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund
Rep. Sean Garballey and Sen. Paul Mark each filed amendments to ensure that the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund would have $1 million towards its operating budget next year. While the amendments did not pass, both chambers designated 1% of revenues from the gaming mitigation fund for the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund in their respective budgets.
Poet Laureate Honorarium
Rep. Sean Garballey and Sen. Paul Mark each filed amendments to include an honorarium for the new Massachusetts Poet Laureate. Only Sen. Mark’s amendment was adopted, securing $25,000 for the Poet Laureate in the Senate’s Budget.
State Aid to Regional Public Libraries
Sen. Jacob Oliveira filed an amendment to increase state aid to regional public libraries by $500,000 in the Senate budget, but the House increased the aid by $75,000. The Conference Committee will decide the amount allocated in the final budget.
Below is the list of amendments that were not included in either the House or Senate final proposals.
Governor Healey’s Charitable Deduction Cap was NOT INCLUDED in either House or Senate proposals.
This would have included an annual cap of $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for couples on charitable donation deductions.
Senate Amendment #91, "Strengthening Downtowns and Main Streets," was REJECTED
This amendment would have invested $500,000 towards the Downtown Vitality Fund.
Senate Amendment #271, "Safeguarding Free Expression," was WITHDRAWN
This amendment was taken from S.2328, An Act regarding free expression, and declared that book bans undermine the public good and restrict academic growth, and that librarians should be protected from personal attacks and threats.
Senate Amendment #741, "Board of Library Commissioners," was REJECTED
This amendment would have added approximately $400,000 to the operations budget for the Board of Library Commissioners.
Senate Amendment #742, "Library Technology and Resource Sharing," was REJECTED
This amendment would have added approximately $300,000 to the line item supporting library technologies and resource sharing.
To learn more about the state budget, click below to read about the annual budget process.
