According to a new report in Variety, red tape and bureaucracy have impeded the rollout of the much-lauded Save Our Stages Act and independent venues have yet to receive a dime of their allotted $16 billion.
The Save Our Stages Act passed in Congress five months ago, and as a rep for the Small Business Administration told Variety, despite a payment plan scheduled for last week, the money has yet to be processed. On top of that, a glitchy website is leaving many venue owners frustrated.
“The Administration had said they would be getting checks out the door to venues by the end of the month, but now they are making excuses for why they can’t meet that deadline,” Texas Senator John Cornyn told Variety. “Although many venues are now able to reopen, they need this critical funding as soon as possible to cover rent and employee salaries.”
Added Audrey Fix Shaefer of the National Independent Venue Association, “This emergency relief can’t come soon enough for those on the precipice of going under. We’ll be very grateful when the money is distributed as Congress intended. It’s been very hard to hold on, but even tougher to plan for reopening without the money to hire back staff, rent venues and secure acts with deposits. It will be incredible when the $16 billion Congress earmarked to save our stages becomes a reality.”
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