PENNSYLVANIA BUDGET UPDATE

Pennsylvania's legislators spent the weekend finishing negotiations and moving a budget to the Governor's desk. Governor Shapiro enacted the budget with his signature on Sunday afternoon.

PA Museums is pleased to share that the line item in the budget for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's (PHMC) Cultural and Historical Support Grants program stands at $4 million. You can view the budget here at the Commonwealth Office of the Budget's website.

Thank you to those of you who wrote letters to lawmakers or spoke with them about the needs of museums. PA Museums is also grateful to the Dezzi Group for once again working with our museum leaders and lawmakers to bring strength to our advocacy work. As you may recall, earlier budgets contained a lower level of funding for museums and historical societies so this is a huge win for PA Museums and our constituency.

In our next edition of Tapestry, we will provide a deeper dive into the budget as it relates to cultural funding for the fiscal year 2026-27.

PHMC CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SUPPORT GRANTS ANNOUNCEMENT

The PHMC is now accepting applications from qualified museums and official county historical societies for its Cultural and Historical Support Grants. The deadline to apply is August 21, 2026.

Applicants must meet organizational eligibility requirements. Awards are based on a calculation that uses the operating budget from the most recently completed fiscal year.

The goals of the Cultural and Historic Support Program are:

·   Strengthen the Pennsylvania museum community;

·   Provide general operating support to museum and official county historical societies that are not supported by other state agency funding programs;

·   Provide financial support as unrestricted operating support to address primary needs of museums;

·   Allow applicants to determine and describe how they will use funds;

·   Keep application process fair and simple;

·   Determine award amounts using an equation based on a percentage of the previous year’s operating budget; and

·   Achieve geographical balance in the distribution of grants.

The Cultural and Historical Support grant program is restricted to eligible organizations. The guidelines for the program and eligibility information can be found on the PHMC's website. Please note that all PHMC grant applications are submitted on the Commonwealth’s Single Application for Assistance system.

Grants for eligible organizations may be approved at the September meeting of the Commissioners. To confirm eligibility, please contact Rusty Baker, Executive Director of PA Museums, at (717) 280-3822 or c-rubaker@pa.gov. PA Museums is assisting the PHMC with the administration of the grant program. All other inquiries regarding the Cultural and Historical Support Grant program can be directed to RA-PHGrantSupport@pa.gov ​with the subject line, "CHSG."

PA Museums | rusty.baker@pamuseums.org 

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