On Wednesday, February 19, Governor Pritzker responded to the creative community’s campaign and called for preserving vital funding for arts access as part of his proposed FY26 state budget. The proposal calls for $55.2B in spending overall—an increase of $2.5B from last year’s budget—without instituting any new taxes.
Illinois Arts Council (IAC)
At a time when the Governor is asking for responsible budgeting, his proposal maintains almost equal funding for the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) from last year’s FY25 budget (25.58M to $25.76M).
The total amount proposed for the IAC for FY26, including federal funding, is $25.7M.
| General Funds from the State | $24.4M |
| Federal Funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) | $1.3M |
| Total | $25.7M |
The proposed IAC budget includes IL general fund appropriations for the following:
- Arts and Foreign Language Grant Program ~ $907,500
- Financial Assistance to Enhance Cultural Environment in Illinois ~ $17,207,200
- Humanities ~ $1,445,000
- Illinois Public Radio and Television ~ $1,657,000
Thank you to the Governor and the 2,200 advocates who signed the letter asking him to protect these critical dollars in the upcoming budget cycle. Our voices were heard!
While celebration is in order, we must remember that this budget is only a proposal. It still needs a final vote by the General Assembly. Legislators will negotiate budget allocations over the next few months, and special interest groups will advocate for changes.
We must remain vigilant and continue encouraging our legislators to support the arts by informing them of how critical these dollars are to the well-being of our creative sector and the state’s larger economic engine. With federal funding in question, support for the arts at the state and local levels is more important than ever before.
What’s Next
- Send your legislators an email to let them know that every dollar of the Governor’s proposed IAC allocation is critical to the creative vitality of our state, and thank the Governor for supporting arts and culture in this year’s budget proposal. Both actions take less than ten seconds!
- ICYMI: Read our recent statement about the current federal funding climate.
- Sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already to tap into future advocacy actions, learn about available funding opportunities, and more.
- Support our work by becoming a member.
