In last week’s issue, our coverage of Brattleboro’s new federally-funded public art project (“What Goes Here?”) mentioned a recent veto by Gov. Charlie Baker that cut $2.37 million from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s budget for the funding of arts, science, and humanities initiatives for fiscal year 2016, which began on July 1. At the time of publication, legislators had already received thousands of emails asking them to overturn the veto, and a letter proposing as much had been written by the Cultural Caucus and was circulating among leaders in the State House.
Opponents of the veto now have cause to celebrate. On July 29, the Massachusetts House and Senate voted to restore that money to the council’s budget. The Cultural Council will receive $14.16 million in state funds this fiscal year, compared with the $11.79 million they were slated to get under Baker’s veto.
House members voted to override the governor’s budget rejection 152-2. The override received a unanimous 38-0 approval vote in the Senate.
“This is a significant achievement for the arts, humanities, and sciences,” said Cultural Ccouncil Executive Director Anita Walker in a statement. “Collectively, our community made a powerful and persuasive case that greater state support will deliver a strong return on investment to the Commonwealth. And our elected leaders on Beacon Hill listened.”
The Massachusetts Cultural Council is a state agency that, since 2006, has awarded $82.7 million in grants to more than 350 cultural organizations across the state.•
