Today, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed a state budget that includes a one-time $5 million increase in general fund support for the California Arts Council. This is the first time in over ten years the arts have seen an increase of general fund monies, after support for the Arts Council was cut by 94% in 2003.

AB 580, the California State Assembly bill to fund the California Arts Council with $75 million for the upcoming fiscal year, failed to pass out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee during the current legislative session.