READ OUR FY27 STATE BUDGET LETTER

Advocacy: State
Written By Kelsey Rode

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Image from left to right: State Rep. Mindy Domb and State Rep. Sean Garballey (House Chair, Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development) at Creative Sector Day 2025. Photography by Steph Craig Studios.

 

546 Creative Workers, Cultural Organizations, and Creative Businesses signed the budget advocacy letter

 

We circulated a sign-on letter urging the Massachusetts House and Senate to pass the strongest possible FY27 spending packages for arts, culture, tourism, and public libraries. We requested that they pass budgets including:

  • $27,348,072 for the Mass Cultural Council’s annual operating and grantmaking budget (0640-0300)

  • $6,435,750 for the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund (7008-0900), which supports the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and Regional Tourism Councils

  • $21,000,000 for the State Aid to Public Libraries Program (7000-9501)

  • $19,570,000 for the State Aid to Regional Libraries Program (7000-9401)

  • $2,114,514 for the operation of the Board of Library Commissioners (7000-9101)

  • $3,000,000 for the District Local Technical Assistance Fund (1599-0026)

We also encouraged lawmakers to support the sector by passing the Creative Sector Agenda this session.

This moment is especially critical. Federal support for arts, humanities, museums, libraries, and public media has become increasingly unstable, with deep cuts and the attempted dismantling of agencies threatening programs nationwide. Many cultural organizations are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, facing reduced attendance, shrinking revenue, and rising costs. State leadership has never mattered more. Strong state investments will provide critical stability to the creative sector right now, protect jobs, sustain libraries as hubs for learning and public services, and ensure Massachusetts remains one of the most arts-vibrant states in the country.

Thank you for taking action! In just a few days, we received signatures from 546 creative workers, cultural organizations, and creative businesses.

We sent these letters to House and Senate leadership on February 11th. We also sent a thank you letter to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for proposing $27.3 million for the Mass Cultural Council, $20.4 million for state aid to public libraries, $19.4 million in aid to regional libraries, and $2.1 million for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners in H.2. You can download the budget letters below.

 
 
 
Resources
A Guide To Hearing And Giving Testimony

An important part of the governing process is public hearings. These occur on all levels of government (Federal, State, and Local). Understanding the hearing process and how you can participate will make you a more effective advocate for a more equitable and inclusive creative sector.

INSIDE THE STATE BUDGETING PROCESS

Maintaining and increasing public investment in the creative community requires constant and broad grassroots activism throughout the annual budget process.

NonProfit Organizations & Advocacy

There is a lot of misinformation on what a nonprofit can and cannot do when it comes to advocating for its interests and the needs of the communities they serve. Check out our Nonprofits and Advocacy Resource on how your organization effectively and confidently advocate for a more equitable and inclusive creative sector of all residents in the Commonwealth.

6/19/20 - POLICY & ACTION UPDATE WEBINAR

In this webinar, we took time to honor Juneteenth and Pride Month, and talked about the status of arts education funding and voting protections.

6/12/20 - POLICY & ACTION UPDATE WEBINAR

In this webinar, we discussed mapping our roles in a social change ecosystem, talked about proposed legislation to address COVID-19 voting options, the 2020 Census, and reviewed federal and state supports for the creative sector.

6/5/20 - policy & action update webinars

In this webinar, we had a community conversation about mapping our social change roles during times of crisis.

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Kelsey Rode
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