On Sunday, Dec. 20, U.S. Congress announced it had reached an agreement to pass a $900 billion stimulus plan to aid citizens and businesses in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Variety, the Save Our Stages act, which will provide $15 billion in relief to independent venues across the nation.
The starkly divided Congress took until the last minute to reach an agreement. Final votes on the stimulus plan are expected to occur today (Dec. 21), then the bill will be sent to President Trump.
The Save Our Stages act was cosponsored by Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas). The bill was advocated for by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), who initially launched a campaign of the same name this past July to raise awareness about the need for aid for venues and push Congress to act.
“Independent venues were some of the first establishments to close down and will likely be some of the last to open. I refuse to sit by and let the music die, which is why I was proud to introduce the bipartisan Save our Stages Act,” Klobuchar said (quote via Variety report). “This funding will get small entertainment venues the help they need to make ends meet and serve our communities for generations to come.”
“Texas’ historic and world-class entertainment venues were some of the first businesses to close, and many remain shuttered nine months later,” added Cornyn (quote via Variety report). “I’m proud to have led the charge in the Senate to ensure they have the resources to overcome lost revenue and mounting bills, and I urge the President to quickly sign this into law so Texans can enjoy their favorite artists at dance halls and live music venues for years to come.”
Exact specifics of the stimulus plan are still unavailable at the time of publication. For more information, read the full Variety report here.
Read Relix‘s recent feature on David Weingarden, who was heavily involved in NIVA and the Save Our Stages initiative.
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Read Dave Grohl’s “Huge Heartfelt Thank You” to Supporters of ‘Save Our Stages’ Act – Future Kills
January 1, 2021 at 5:52 am[…] music business took a collective sigh on aid on Dec. 21 when the Save Our Levels Act was included as part of the U.S. authorities’s newest coronavirus […]
WE LOST OUR LIBERTY
December 22, 2020 at 10:46 amA 6000 page omnibuss bill written by staffers that Congress had 6 hrs to review. It’s loaded with pork that has NOTHING to due with CV19 relief for small businesses, printed with money that we don’t have, and running up a debt that collapse our country. The irony is that they didn’t include much for the struggling restaurants and bars they shut down. The place a the end of my street in NJ didn’t survive the governors lockdown after making it over 20yrs. My friends bar in NYC will fold, and got $10,000 fines and loss of liquor license for “table encroached too far on the sidewalk” – thank you mayor Decomio! Don’t be sheeple – pay attention to what is really going on here! In the end when the electricity is turned off I suppose I’ll still be able to play my Martin acoustically.
Partial list of pork:
1. $4,184,000 for Office of Ethics expenses.
2. $85,476,000 for Economic Research Services
3. $183,921,000 for National Agricultural Statistics Service
4. $60,131,000 for the Risk Management Agency
5. $21,000,000 for the Central Utah Project
6. $3,850,000 for the Office of the President
7. $13,641,000 for the White House Residence
8. 8. $18,400,000 for the Office of National Drug Control Policy
9. $700,000,000 for the Sudan.
10. $500 million to Israel
11. $453 million to Ukraine
12. $135 million to Burma
13. $85.5 million to Cambodia
14. $1.4 billion for “Asia Reassurance Initiative Act”
15. $130 million to Nepal
16. $10,000,000 for gender programs in Pakistan.
You get $600.00, let that sink in!
Harry Peters
December 22, 2020 at 9:22 am900 Billion, not Million. 2020 so crazy money grows on trees..
David
December 21, 2020 at 9:22 pmTicketmaster and Live Nation often charge 30+% usury fees and service charges on tickets. Why would I support this when the venues CHOOSE to use a ticket vendor that’s gouging their customers?
dickybeans
December 21, 2020 at 4:41 pmLet’s hope LiveNation keeps their grubby paws off the money. They have a lot of pricey lawyers ready to argue the definition of “independent”.
Paulbot
December 21, 2020 at 4:40 pmWhat % is live nation getting?
Douglas Buzby
December 21, 2020 at 4:33 pmThis is great news!