Governor Deval Patrick signed a state budget for the new fiscal year that allocates $9.1 million to support the arts, humanities, and sciences through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC).
The budget reduces state support for arts and culture by $600,000 for fiscal year 2011, which began on July 1. The Governor vetoed $151,000 in contingency funding that would have been available to MCC and its grant programs only if the state is reimbursed by the federal government for Medicaid expenses. In all the Governor vetoed $457 million in this contingency spending across state government. The Legislature may choose to override those vetoes.
“Funding cuts are never good news, especially at a time when many of our nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, and communities are still feeling the effects of the recession,” said Anita Walker, MCC Executive Director. “Nevertheless, state government faced tremendous financial pressure this year, and there were very few public programs that were spared cutbacks.
“On behalf of the MCC and its Board, I extend our thanks to the many cultural leaders, artists, educators, and individual citizens who advocated on our behalf during the budget debate.”
State support for arts and culture is less than half of levels reached a decade ago. The MCC is working with the Boston Foundation, the Mass. Advocates for Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (MAASH), and a coalition of cultural leaders from across the state, to build a strong advocacy network to reverse these cuts and position the cultural sector for greater support in future years.
Click here to learn more about the MCC.
Click here to visit the Governor’s official website and learn more about the new state budget.
