California arts groups will get a big bump in funding in the coming fiscal year — even more than previously thought.
The new $167.6 billion-state budget signed by Gov. Jerry Brown Wednesday provides $8.3 million for the California Arts Council, of which $7.1 million has been described as a “permanent increase.”
This is a significant boost to council’s funding, which has scraped by most of this past decade on about $1 million a year.
There were already signs of an imminent growth in state arts last month when Brown’s revised budget increased the council’s proposed funding to $6.1 million and a state Senate subcommittee proposed increasing it to $10 million.
Donn Harris, who chairs the California Arts Council, says that some of the money will go towards beefing up pilot programs for the young, veterans, and underserved communities.