Vermont arts, history and humanities groups ask Legislature for 10% boost above governor’s budget to offset federal losses

Four of Vermont’s major cultural agencies told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 17 that modest additional state funding is needed this year to make up for federal cuts and rising costs.

Susan Evans Before, executive director of the Vermont Arts Council, told the committee the Council had retained its National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding for FY26 but that other federal supports have been reduced. “We are in a challenging, and unprecedented and pivotal moment in our nation,” she said, and asked the Legislature to consider a 10% increase above the governor’s budget proposal as a show of support and to help fill gaps where federal dollars were canceled.

Why it matters: the cultural agencies said the increase would both ensure Vermont meets federal matching rules and sustain grants, education and community programs that statewide partners rely on. Evans Before said the NEA advised the Council its allocation would be a little over $1,000,000 this year and that the state match needed to secure federal funds is just under $40,000; the Council said a 10% state increase would more than cover that match and allow expanded grantmaking in communities that lost federal support.

Agency specifics and examples: the Arts Council reported awarding just over $1.4 million in FY25 across 255 grants to artists and organizations statewide and cited community projects—from a mural in Lunenburg to the Arts Bus education program—that the Council said leveraged state grants into additional local fundraising and partnerships. Elise Bernal, executive director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, described the VSO’s eight education programs serving roughly 5,000 students and said ticket sales typically cover about 30% of concert costs. Bernal said the VSO had requested an additional $40,000 above the governor’s 3% to cover rising staging and equipment costs and union musician pay increases; she noted contracted musicians typically earn about $10,000–$15,000 a year from VSO engagements and are paid per performance under a union contract (Bernal cited a per‑performance example of about $170 and mileage paid at roughly half the IRS rate).

Steven Perkins, executive director of the Vermont Historical Society, described statutory constraints that require the Society’s employees to be treated on the state pay scale for benefits and pension while the Society receives approximately half its budget from the state; Perkins used artifacts (including a cane with an embedded bullet fragment from the 1864 St. Albans raid and a rare slave narrative) to illustrate the Society’s educational work and said demand for school programs and curriculum assistance has risen.

Christopher Kaufman Illustrip, executive director of Vermont Humanities, told the committee that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) terminated funding to state humanities councils in April 2025 and that Vermont Humanities has since used emergency philanthropic support and fundraising to cover shortfalls. He said Vermont Reads distributed 4,850 copies of The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks‑Dalton as part of this year’s program but that, because of funding constraints, the organization had run out of additional books to distribute even though programming will continue through June 30.

Financial context and next steps: witnesses said the collective 10% request is small relative to the state budget—about $275,000 in total across the four agencies—but significant for the agencies’ modest operating budgets. Committee members asked for dollar‑level comparisons between the governor’s 3% and the agencies’ 10% request; witnesses declined to perform public math in the hearing and offered to provide precise figures and supporting materials to staff after the meeting. No formal vote or appropriation decision was taken at the hearing; the committee chair said a straw poll on the budget would be held the following morning.