The New Longshot US Stimulus Package, Which Just Passed the House of Representatives, Would Be a Life Saver for Arts Nonprofits

The House of Representatives passed another stimulus package on
Friday that would offer $3 trillion in relief. It
includes $100 billion for rental assistance, another round of
$1,200 direct payments to taxpayers, and sets aside 25 percent
of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for nonprofit
organizations.

However, the bill, known as the HEROES Act, has little
chance of passing in the Republican-led senate and President Trump
has promised to veto it. Still, the legislation could provide
a starting point for negotiations for further relief for Americans
who have been hit hard by the global health crisis.

Some 36 million people in the US have filed for unemployment
since March, and although states have begun easing lockdown
restrictions, it remains unclear how many businesses will be able
to reopen without additional assistance.

While the first round of PPP loans came under fire for going to
a number of large, publicly traded companies such as Shake Shack,
the house bill sets aside a portion of available funds to
businesses with 10 or fewer employees. There would no longer be any
limit on what percent of loans recipients use for eligible
non-payroll expenses such as rent, mortgage interest, and
utilities.

The government moved quickly in March to pass the initial $2
trillion emergency CARES Act, but the
spending bill had little to directly
offer the country’s cultural sector. Museums and other cultural
institutions in the US stand to lose a collective
$6.8 billion due to loss of revenue during extended
closures, according to a new report from SMU DataArts and TRG Arts.

Arts organizations, led by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, had advocated
for a dedicated $4 billion in aid through a #CongressSaveCulture
campaign. Instead, CARES gave
just $75 million each to the National Endowment for the Arts and
the National Endowment for the Humanities; $50 million to the
Institute of Museum and Library Services; $25 million to the
Kennedy Center; and $7.5 million to the Smithsonian
Institution.

If the house bill were to become law, it would afford just $5
million to the Institute of Museum and Library Services and $10
million each to the National Endowment of the Arts and the National
Endowment of the Humanities for emergency loans to arts and
humanities organizations. The Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center
are not slated to receive additional funding.

The post The New Longshot US Stimulus Package, Which Just
Passed the House of Representatives, Would Be a Life Saver for Arts
Nonprofits appeared first on artnet News.