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From George Tzougros, the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Arts Board
Thank you for patiently awaiting this budget recap. As the Arts Board’s budget is attached to the Department of Tourism’s budget, and because the WAB is a good partner of Tourism, we waited for the Secretary of Tourism to put out her statement related to the budget before putting out our own. This was particularly important related to the film office and film incentives. You can see Tourism’s full statement below the information from us.
How did the Arts Board fare in the biennial budget? We did not see the increase the Governor proposed in his budget ($2.9 million), nor did the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) choose the option to return state arts funding to pre-2011 levels ($1.5 million). The JFC chose only to match the increase provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. While it is not what we hoped for, it does include the good news that we will not have to pursue a 13.10 request from the legislature and wait for its passage to do our work.
In related news, we received our FY 2026 offer letter from the National Endowment for the Arts, which includes an increase of $101,238, for a total award of $1,184,23. This is amazing news given what was happening in Washington this past spring! The increase includes $100,000.00 in new, one-time funding that the state matched: $75,000.00 for the Arts & Health (for our work with WI Social Prescription) and $25,000.00 for America 250 grants for small and mid-sized communities to celebrate America’s semiquincentennial.
WHAT YOU MAY DO
- Express gratitude through your social networks and to the Governor and your legislators for the bipartisan support of the arts through the state budget.
- Thank your fellow arts advocates for their work during the biennial budget process. It is important to note that while it may not look like it, Wisconsin arts advocates made a huge difference in this biennial budget process. One only needs to read about the challenges faced by our peers in New Hampshire and Missouri to know this is true.
- If asked, acknowledge that the Arts Board has accepted its offer of Partnership funding from the National Endowment for the Arts for State Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026). This includes specific, one-time funding for arts and health and America 250, the celebration of the country’s semiquincentennial. More on these items in future communications.
- Refer people with questions about the film incentives and film office to the Department of Tourism. People are justifiably excited and expect the film office to open and the incentives to go into effect right away. That won’t happen yet. There is work to be done before there is a film office and before incentives will be available. To that end, please use Secretary Anne Sayers language, which I repeat here, explaining that the biennial budget:
- Created a Film Office housed at the Department of Tourism, including one staff position and $5 million in film tax incentives at the Department of Revenue. This item is getting incredible interest. Funding for this position does not begin until Oct. 1, so we are asking for patience as we begin to rebuild the Wisconsin Film Office. Our first order of business is to create a platform whereby interested parties can sign up to be notified of future film updates. Please stay tuned for that update in your inbox.
- Celebrate Tourism’s increased marketing budget, as you have the opportunity. This funding will be used to promote the state brand, of which the arts and culture are a part.
- As you have the opportunity, remind people that, in addition to the Arts Board and Department of Tourism, other parts of the state budget support the arts and culture. These include support for the Wisconsin Historical Society, PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio, the State Building Commission, UW-System, the Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Department of Workforce Development, etc.
One last, important note: our federal support from the NEA is only for the first year of the state’s biennium, so our education of federal and state officials must be ongoing. We’ve just received word from NASAA that “The House Sub-Committee on the Interior will publish markups tomorrow (7/15), and new intel suggests that they will recommend appropriations of $135 million each for the NEA and the NEH. That’s significantly less than the current appropriation of $207 million, and a 35% decrease. We also understand there may be amendments made tomorrow.”
From Anne Sayers, the Secretary of Tourism
"When Governor Tony Evers signed a compromise budget into law last week, it was a huge win for the Wisconsin tourism industry!
In his tenure, Governor Evers has financially supported the tourism industry more than any Governor in Wisconsin history and this state budget underscored his support for our work. Through this budget process, we again earned tremendous bipartisan legislative support, including from the Senate and Assembly tourism committee chairs Senator Julian Bradley and Representative Chanz Green. I am so grateful that so many people see the valuable role tourism’s economic impact plays in our state’s economy. During budget discussions, both sides of the aisle spoke highly of the work that we all do to collectively promote Wisconsin’s $25.8 billion tourism industry. From the Governor’s Office to legislators on both sides of the aisle, it’s so encouraging to see broad support of the value of tourism promotion for Wisconsin residents statewide, driving $1.7 billion in state and local tax revenue and supporting 182,000 full- and part-time jobs.
The signed budget:
- Matched our previous budget increase with $31 million in critical new funding. These funds are structured almost identically to the last budget, with $30 million in one-time funding and a $1 million increase in our base-building funds in the second year of the biennium. This investment ensures we will be able to continue our consumer marketing efforts at a much higher level than we would have been able to afford had we gone back to our $18 million base budget. Additionally, these funds will continue to power our high-profile public relations efforts as well as the Office of Outdoor Recreation and the Office of Group Travel. This means the Department of Tourism can continue driving traditional and new revenue streams to help grow economic impact.
- Made the Office of Outdoor Recreation permanent so the Office can continue to uplift Wisconsin’s amazing outdoor recreation economy and connect it to one of our top drivers of Wisconsin tourism.
- Created a Film Office housed at the Department of Tourism, including one staff position and $5 million in film tax incentives at the Department of Revenue. This item is getting incredible interest. Funding for this position does not begin until Oct. 1, so we are asking for patience as we begin to rebuild the Wisconsin Film Office. Our first order of business is to create a platform whereby interested parties can sign up to be notified of future film updates. Please stay tuned for that update in your inbox.
- Allocated enough funds for the Arts Board to continue reaching the federal match requirement, with $34,300 in fiscal year 2026 and $79,400 in fiscal year 2027 in new funding. Unfortunately, a deeper increase in Arts Board grants did not happen, but I am grateful for the wonderful interest in the arts from both sides of the aisle.
- Allocated $5 million to Taliesin Preservation, Inc. for restoration projects at Taliesin, Wisconsin's very special UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As I made my way around the Capitol meeting members of the Joint Finance Committee for the past few months, many of them said they heard from their local tourism leaders the importance of supporting funding for the Department of Tourism. We couldn’t have done this without your advocacy. Thank you! Your support means we’ll be able to continue building momentum to drive economic impact for our state. We’re excited to put these funds to work to do more big things for Wisconsin tourism."