Should Massachusetts taxpayers pay someone $15,000 per year to write poetry?.One state agency thinks so.The Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency that focuses on arts and culture, recently asked for a $15,000 earmark in the state's fiscal year 2026 budget to pay the state's poet laureate an annual stipend.Michael Bobbitt, the council's executive director, made the request March 10 during a budget hearing for fiscal year 2026 of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means."These funds will support an honorarium for the state's first poet laureate in the history of the state," Bobbitt said during the hearing, according to State House News Service. "It is our strong position that artists should be paid for their work, their time, and their creative expertise."Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance executive director Paul Craney ripped the idea of paying a poet taxpayer money in an email message to NewBostonPost.“Only in Massachusetts, are taxpayers expected to fund a state poet laureate," Craney wrote. "That money would be better spent by simple giving it back as a tax reduction. Massachusetts State House leaders spend taxpayer money so carelessly that they have to find creative ways to spend it. It’s just another reason for why this state is such an expensive state to live in.” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey created the position of poet laureate via an executive order on February 3. Her proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 (which begins July 1, 2025) does not offer an explicit appropriation for the position; however, the press release announcing Healey's exec order says "The selected candidate will be eligible for a stipend provided by the Mass Cultural Council."Healey said the position will promote poetry and creativity in Massachusetts.“Massachusetts has a rich legacy of pioneering poets, from Phillis Wheatley Peters to Robert Frost to Emily Dickinson to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Our administration is committed to honoring this legacy by celebrating the many contributions of poets to our state, including their ability to inspire future generations,” Healey said in the press release. “We’re grateful to the Mass Cultural Council for their strong partnership in creating this important position, and we encourage poets from across the state to apply when the application goes live.”Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll expressed a similar sentiment.“From day one, our administration has been committed to supporting arts and culture in Massachusetts," Driscoll said in the written statement. “The creation of the Poet Laureate is not only an investment in our creative economy, but also an invitation for us to embrace the unique power poetry has to open our minds, stir our hearts, and educate us all.”Here is how the Healey administration describes the role of the poet laureate in the press release:“The Poet Laureate will be charged with encouraging the appreciation of poetry and creative expression across Massachusetts, organizing and attending public readings and other statewide literary and cultural events in different regions, composing poetry for ceremonial occasions, and advising the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on an outreach program for schools focused on the celebration and advancement of poetry.“Healey's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would give the Massachusetts Cultural Council $26.05 million, though Bobbitt requested lawmakers provide it with $28 million during the March 10 hearing, State House News Service reports.Massachusetts has not announced the identity of its new poet laureate yet.The state opened its application for the position last week. The requirements for applicants are that they are at least 18 years old and are full-time Bay State residents who have lived here for at least the past three years, according to the Massachusetts Cultural Council.The deadline to apply is Thursday, April 10. Healey's office plans to announce the winner in late May or early June, a press release from her office said.Once Massachusetts announces its Poet Laureate, 47 states will have this position. However, in other states, it is generally an unpaid position. A spokesman for Governor Healey's office could not be reached for comment on Monday or Tuesday.More information on how to apply to be the state's Poet Laureate is available here.
Should Massachusetts taxpayers pay someone $15,000 per year to write poetry?.One state agency thinks so.The Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency that focuses on arts and culture, recently asked for a $15,000 earmark in the state's fiscal year 2026 budget to pay the state's poet laureate an annual stipend.Michael Bobbitt, the council's executive director, made the request March 10 during a budget hearing for fiscal year 2026 of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means."These funds will support an honorarium for the state's first poet laureate in the history of the state," Bobbitt said during the hearing, according to State House News Service. "It is our strong position that artists should be paid for their work, their time, and their creative expertise."Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance executive director Paul Craney ripped the idea of paying a poet taxpayer money in an email message to NewBostonPost.“Only in Massachusetts, are taxpayers expected to fund a state poet laureate," Craney wrote. "That money would be better spent by simple giving it back as a tax reduction. Massachusetts State House leaders spend taxpayer money so carelessly that they have to find creative ways to spend it. It’s just another reason for why this state is such an expensive state to live in.” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey created the position of poet laureate via an executive order on February 3. Her proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 (which begins July 1, 2025) does not offer an explicit appropriation for the position; however, the press release announcing Healey's exec order says "The selected candidate will be eligible for a stipend provided by the Mass Cultural Council."Healey said the position will promote poetry and creativity in Massachusetts.“Massachusetts has a rich legacy of pioneering poets, from Phillis Wheatley Peters to Robert Frost to Emily Dickinson to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Our administration is committed to honoring this legacy by celebrating the many contributions of poets to our state, including their ability to inspire future generations,” Healey said in the press release. “We’re grateful to the Mass Cultural Council for their strong partnership in creating this important position, and we encourage poets from across the state to apply when the application goes live.”Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll expressed a similar sentiment.“From day one, our administration has been committed to supporting arts and culture in Massachusetts," Driscoll said in the written statement. “The creation of the Poet Laureate is not only an investment in our creative economy, but also an invitation for us to embrace the unique power poetry has to open our minds, stir our hearts, and educate us all.”Here is how the Healey administration describes the role of the poet laureate in the press release:“The Poet Laureate will be charged with encouraging the appreciation of poetry and creative expression across Massachusetts, organizing and attending public readings and other statewide literary and cultural events in different regions, composing poetry for ceremonial occasions, and advising the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on an outreach program for schools focused on the celebration and advancement of poetry.“Healey's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would give the Massachusetts Cultural Council $26.05 million, though Bobbitt requested lawmakers provide it with $28 million during the March 10 hearing, State House News Service reports.Massachusetts has not announced the identity of its new poet laureate yet.The state opened its application for the position last week. The requirements for applicants are that they are at least 18 years old and are full-time Bay State residents who have lived here for at least the past three years, according to the Massachusetts Cultural Council.The deadline to apply is Thursday, April 10. Healey's office plans to announce the winner in late May or early June, a press release from her office said.Once Massachusetts announces its Poet Laureate, 47 states will have this position. However, in other states, it is generally an unpaid position. A spokesman for Governor Healey's office could not be reached for comment on Monday or Tuesday.More information on how to apply to be the state's Poet Laureate is available here.
