SC House Passes FY27 Budget With Arts Increases

12 March 2026

The SC House has advanced a FY27 funding bill with increases to statewide arts funding.

Background

The SC House Ways and Means Committee filed the first version of the FY27 Budget Bill back in February.

• The budget bill includes $250K in new recurring funding for the South Carolina Arts Commission for Operating Support grants and Creative Workforce programs. You can read up on this year’s arts funding requests here.

• The House version also includes an additional $75,000 for shared IT services. This was a separate part of the agencies budget request, but was not part of our advocacy “ask.”

Note: While the increase does not reflect the full budget request, steady arts increases among many competing budget priorities is still an advocacy success.

What’s New

The SC Full House passed the bill on Tuesday with the arts increases listed above. Arts Commission funding passing by a vote of 91-21, signaling strong, and continuing, bipartisan support from the General Assembly.

What’s next

The bill now moves to the Senate, where their budget committee will make their own recommendations. Their increase to arts funding may be the same, higher, or lower. The Senate Finance Committee is set to begin deliberations the Week of April 7.