Draft MCC budget up, facilities fund down

The Massachusetts Cultural Council’s budget would grow by 3 percent while the Cultural Facilities Fund would fall by nearly 50 percent for the fiscal year which began July 1 in a final budget compromise that came out of the state Legislature's joint conference committee late last night, according to the Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences & Humanities.

The full state House and Senate are expected to vote to approve these numbers today, then Governor Deval Patrick has 10 days to approve or veto the fiscal year ’09 budget or veto individual line items.

If the compromise is approved, the MCC budget would increase by $400,000 to $12,658,827, while the Cultural Facilities Fund would fall to $6.5 million, down from $12 million budgeted for the just completed fiscal year. That puts the Legislature higher than Governor Patrick’s recommended budget for the MCC (a $100,000 increase to $12.4 million), but somewhat below his proposed budget for the Cultural Facilities Fund ($7 million).

Update:
The MCC announced around 1 p.m. that the state Legislature has approved the budget.