TAKE ACTION: URGE GOV. HEALEY TO INCLUDE $28M for THE MASS CULTURAL COUNCIL AND $17M FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM IN FY26
Image features, from left to right: Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Gov. Maura Healey speaking at Creative Sector Day at the State House in 2024.
On January 22, 2025, Gov. Healey will file her proposed FY26 Budget (H.1). This will start the months-long process of advocating for statewide spending priorities that will continue with the House, Senate, and a conference committee before returning to the Governor’s desk for her approval. This process will continue through June 30, 2025, with the next fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2025. You can read more about the state budgeting process using the link below.
The Mass Cultural Council’s annual operating and grantmaking budget is approved each year through the state budget. The Mass Cultural Council’s budget is also the single largest public appropriation each year that is directed towards arts and culture in Massachusetts. In FY25, our coalition successfully advocated for a budget increase and the Mass Cultural Council was funded at $26.9 million.
This year, the MASSCreative Action Network is continuing its long-term campaign of increasing the agency’s budget to $35 million, or $5 per capita, by urging the Healey-Driscoll Administration to increase the Mass Cultural Council’s FY26 budget (0640-0300) to $28 million. Additionally, we are advocating for $17 million for the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund and Regional Tourism Councils.
Advocating for these budgets is one of the surest ways to support arts, culture, creativity, and tourism across Massachusetts. Adding your name takes about 30 seconds.
Sign on as an individual, organization, or both before Friday, January 17, 2025 at 12 pm.
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Dear Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll, and Secretary Gorzkowicz:
Thank you for your steadfast leadership and service to the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are writing on behalf of the 135,000 individuals who are employed through Massachusetts’ creative economy and its beneficiaries to request that you support arts, culture, and tourism in your FY26 Budget by including $28 million for the Mass Cultural Council’s annual operating and grantmaking budget (0640-0300), and $17 million for the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund, which supports the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and Regional Tourism Councils.
According to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, arts and culture account for $28.6 billion in economic value, 135,000 jobs, and 4.1% of the Commonwealth’s economy. Contributed economic value by arts and culture ranked second compared to other key sectors, including retail, construction, and education. In 2022, Americans for the Arts released their Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) analysis of the City of Springfield, which found that attendees of arts and cultural events spent an average of $31.85 per person on related goods including parking, transportation, and dining. Individuals who traveled from outside of the county where the event took place contributed an average of $51.83 to the local economy. In 2023, Massachusetts’ travel and tourism sector generated $23.6 billion in spending from 52.3 million domestic and international travelers, which in turn generated $2.3 billion in state and local taxes.
Beyond the economic value of the sector, we know that arts and culture animate our communities, preserve our stories, and foster belonging. A supported creative workforce reinforces community bonds and pride in the places where we live, work, and create. Studies consistently demonstrate that young people who have access to arts education in the classroom or through creative youth development programs grow the creative thinking skills and social and emotional learning necessary to become resilient, innovative, and empathic future leaders. A strong creative sector will be essential for us to achieve our visions for social and economic prosperity in Massachusetts.
Since 2020, state and federal funding has provided crucial support for a creative ecosystem that is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. SMU DataArts reported that the average Massachusetts cultural organization reduced its budget by 12% in 2022. Organizations remain reliant on declining contributed revenue sources, and individual private giving has dropped 13% after adjusting for inflation. Earned revenue has decreased 34% and attendance has decreased by 47% since 2019. Foundation funding supported nearly the same level of Massachusetts organizations’ total expenses in 2022 as in 2019, even as the cost of production and operating businesses increased. Further, the sector is not recovering at a uniform rate, with attendance to music and theater venues still lagging behind art museums.
We appreciate the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s initiatives to support the creative sector, including the establishment of the Cultural Economy Advisory Council, passage of the Live Theater Tax Credit, and your leadership in proposing a stronger Mass Cultural Council in the Governor’s FY25 Budget.
We encourage Governor Healey to propose $28 million for the Mass Cultural Council (0640-0300) and $17 million for the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund in your H.1 FY26 Budget to provide essential assistance to artists, creative workers, cultural organizations, and culture bearers as they continue to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, weather the present fiscal climate, and continue adding the social and economic value that we rely upon in Massachusetts.Thank you for your consideration, leadership, and service to the residents of the Commonwealth. We look forward to working with your Administration to build a stronger, more resilient, and more equitable creative sector for all in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Sincerely,Members of Massachusetts’ creative and cultural community
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