Governor Pritzker signed the Fiscal Year 2024 State Budget last week. The enacted budget reflects $50.7 billion in projected revenue for the upcoming fiscal year, roughly level with projections for the current fiscal year.
Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA)
Summary: 13.3% more in State support than last year (From $13.6M to $15.5M)
This increase in IACA’s annual budget generally follows the Governor’s proposal and will provide additional resources for arts education, grants, and financial assistance to arts organizations, as well as an increase in general operating support for the agency.
Under the enacted budget, most line items will see a 10% increase, but here are areas of particular note:
- Grants and financial assistance for arts education will increase by 28.8% ($383,300). Separately, funding for the Arts & Foreign Language (AFL) grant program will increase by 10% ($82,500).
- Funding for Illinois Humanities will rise by 57.5% ($345,000), significantly more than the Governor’s proposed 10% increase.
- Federal funding will increase by 12.8% ($150,000) to $1.3M. This, combined with the State funds ($15.5M), results in an overall FY24 IACA budget of $16.8M, a noteworthy increase in a State budget that is based on a flat revenue forecast.
- In addition, the budget re-appropriates numerous arts capital line items that we have advocated for and that have been due to go out from the State.
Overall, the budget increase is a win for our sector and reflects the current administration’s commitment to maintaining and expanding State support for the arts and culture community.
COVID Relief Funding for the Arts
Summary: Funds re-appropriated for the coming fiscal year
Since there is a chance that the $50 million Illinois Creative Recovery grant program, also known as “B2B Arts,” will not complete grant distribution before the end of the current fiscal year (June 30, 2023), it was imperative that the State re-appropriate the grant funds into the coming fiscal year.
We’re happy to report that our shared advocacy was successful in getting re-appropriation of the B2B Arts grant funding, allowing DCEO the time to ensure critical recovery dollars make their way to arts communities throughout the state. For the latest, visit our B2B Arts page.
Thank you to everyone who advocated and made these important wins possible! We’re excited to see the benefits of this victory play out over the coming year.
If you have any questions, reach out to Jonathan VanderBrug, Deputy Director of Civic Engagement, at vanderbrug@artsalliance.org.
