Attention Grant Recipients of Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG):
You have the opportunity to encourage your Members of Congress to support the Save Our Stages Extension bill, which would extend the project period for all Shuttered Venue Operator Grantees to use their funds to pay for allowable expenditures incurred between March 1, 2020 through March 11, 2023. Bipartisan Senate and House bills S. 2889 and H.R. 5429 were introduced by the original authors of the SVOG Act on September 29, 2021.
The Senate bill was introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and currently has 13 Senate Cosponsors. Check the list to see if your Senator has already cosponsored the bill.
The House bill was introduced by Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) and currently has 28 House Cosponsors. Check the list to see if your House Representative has already cosponsored the bill.
This is a non-controversial, bipartisan bill that does not request additional funds, merely additional time to strategically expend the funds. Given the months-long delay in launching this emergency relief program and disbursing the funds, many venue owners are struggling to thoughtfully use their funding by the end of next month, especially since COVID restrictions are still in place.
We have set up an easy way to make your voice heard with your members of Congress. Use our Arts Action Center to send a quick email to your Congressional Senate and House members asking them to pass the Save Our Stages Extension Act.
FYI - For those still waiting on your SVOG Supplemental request, the SBA informed us yesterday that they still need a few more days to process 340 more supplemental invitations.
For questions, visit my weekly Zoom Office Hours on Fridays @11:00am ET.