Mass Cultural Council Seeks $28M in the FY26 State Budget

Bethann Steiner, Senior Director of Public Affairs

Budget

Mass Cultural Council, the Commonwealth’s independent state arts agency, is primarily funded each year through the Commonwealth’s General Appropriations Act, often referred to as the annual state budget.

The annual budget building exercise is a several months long exercise that takes place in the State House.

• In January, Governor Maura Healey will release her Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 spending recommendations. This budget bill, referred to as H. 1, will then be assigned to the Committees on Way & Means for review and discussion.
• A series of hearings will likely be convened for the House and Senate Committee members to ask questions about the Governor’s spending plan throughout the month of March.
• These hearings will be followed by the House of Representatives’ FY26 budget debate in April, and then the Senate’s debate in May.
• A conference committee will be appointed to negotiate all differences between the two Chambers’ final budgets, and once adopted by the House and Senate the final budget will be sent to the Governor to be signed into law.
• As with all legislation, the Governor has 10 days to review and act on the budget bill once it arrives on her desk. FY26 will span from July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026.

Mass Cultural Council is requesting a FY26 funding appropriation of $28 million, a $1,150,000 increase to our current budget appropriation, and recently submitted testimony to the Governor outlining this request.

We will closely follow the budget process on Beacon Hill and report on each key milestone, as well as amplify engagement opportunities for stakeholders across the creative and cultural sector.

Those who wish to follow the budget building process can track progress on the Legislature’s website under the ‘Budget’ tab.

Read Our Letter to the Governor

Budget