Senate FY26 Budget Recommends $26M for Arts & Culture

Bethann Steiner, Senior Public Affairs Director

Budget

Updated – May 22, 2025: The Massachusetts Senate has completed its FY26 budget debate. Four amendments were adopted adding funds to the Mass Cultural Council’s line item for specific projects, totaling $26,245,152. This breaks down to $26,045,152 for Agency operations and $200,000 for legislative earmarks. We are very pleased that the Senate adopted Sen. Mark’s amendment to provide $25,000 for a stipend for the Commonwealth’s official poet laureate! The final House and Senate budgets will now be sent to a Conference Committee, who will develop a final budget for approval by both Chambers and the Governor. FY26 begins on July 1, 2025. 

This week the FY26 state budget building process transferred out of the West Wing of the State House, which hosts the offices of our state representatives, over to the East Wing of the building, where Members and staff of the Massachusetts Senate work.

On May 6 the Senate Committee on Ways & Means released its FY26 spending recommendation. As with the Governor’s FY26 H1 budget and the FY26 final House budget, Mass Cultural Council is funded at $26,045,152 by the Senate budget committee.

As an independent state agency, most of Mass Cultural Council’s operating budget comes from the annual state budget, and, as such, the largest investment that the Commonwealth makes each year into arts and culture is through the Agency’s budget line item.

A $26M budget appropriation represents a 0.58% increase to Mass Cultural Council’s current operating budget. We are so thankful to the Massachusetts Senate for their partnership, support, and continued investment in the cultural sector. A special thanks to Senate President Karen Spilka, Senate Ways & Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, and Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development Chair Paul Mark for their leadership in this matter.

We note with appreciation the commitment of our partners in advocacy, MASSCreative, as well as Mass Humanities, our partners working to steward arts, culture, creativity, and the humanities across all of Massachusetts, who join us in raising awareness about the power of culture and the need for sustained, robust, state funding for the cultural sector, especially now, when federal funding for arts, culture, and the humanities is under attack.

Next Steps:

• We are working with Chair Mark to secure funding to support the Commonwealth’s first official Poet Laureate during the Senate Budget Debate. Share your support using MASSCreative’s FY26 Senate Budget Debate Action Alert.
• Senators have until May 9 to file their amendments to the Senate Ways & Means budget.
• The FY26 Senate Budget Debate begins on May 20.
• Once the Senate concludes its budget debate, a conference committee will be appointed by the House Speaker and the Senate President. These six House and Senate Members will be tasked with negotiating a final, compromise FY26 spending plan for the approval of the House and Senate, and then Governor Healey.
• Fiscal Year 2026 begins on July 1, 2025.

Budget