United States Conference of Mayors adopts resolution urging Congress to provide continued arts and culture relief funding

Photo: London N. Breed (San Francisco Mayor)

UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS UNIVERSALLY ADOPTS BI-PARTISAN RESOLUTION URGING CONGRESS TO PROVIDE INCREASED SUPPORT FOR ARTS AND CULTURE RELIEF IN OUR NATION’S REBUILDING AND RECOVERY

Spearheaded by San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed and Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, mayors from cities across the nation call on Congress and the Administration to take prompt and coordinated action to ensure the recovery and survival of the nation’s arts and culture sector

SAN FRANCISCO (June 9, 2022)—On Monday, June 6, 2022, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM)—the official non‐partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more, of which there are over 1,400 such cities in the country—adopted a resolution urging Congress to provide continued arts and culture relief funding in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Mayors from cities across the nation, in collaboration with the San Francisco Arts Alliance reinforced federal policy recommendations advanced by more than 60 national, regional, and state arts organizations and called on Congress to address the urgent needs of the nation’s arts and culture sector and to take prompt and coordinated action to integrate arts, culture, and the creative economy into our national recovery and revitalization efforts. This action would ensure urgent relief for artists, who are drivers of wellbeing in their communities and essential arts and culture organizational partners.

This resolution follows action taken by Mayor London N. Breed, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and Mayor Jim Kenney in January 2022, when they submitted testimony to the U.S. House Small Business Committee to support a congressional hearing on the creative economy.

In their testimony, the Mayors stated, “as our nation moves forward, we have a singular opportunity to integrate arts, culture, and the creative economy into our national recovery; recognizing the great value of purposefully integrating artists and arts organizations into community health, wellbeing, and development; and bringing deeper understanding to the catalytic value of artists and the arts in developing stronger, more equitable, and more whole communities.”

“The pandemic has shown us how essential human connection is. We now have the opportunity to bring the full power of the creative sector to help develop and deploy policy that advances an equitable recovery, nurtures our collective wellbeing, and cultivates a better tomorrow.”

In many ways, the hardest years for the creative economy are ahead. Without swift action, we may permanently lose essential arts and cultural organizational partners that are critical to our national identity and essential to accelerate our regional recovery efforts. Keeping critical federal support open through 2022 ensures the arts have resources to aid in the recovery and rebuilding of our communities.

This resolution calls on Congress and the Administration to provide additional support to the arts and culture sector. Specifically, the mayors urge for federal action that:

• Reinstates the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) for quarter four of 2021 (S. 3625 / H.R. 6161), extends the duration of the credit, speed IRS processing of credits, and modifies nonprofit eligibility beyond the current "gross receipts" test.
• Expands the time allowed to use Shuttered Venue Operators Grants to include costs incurred through March 11, 2023.
• Ensures that any new provisions related to COVID-19 relief will be available to the full breadth of the creative sector, including self-employed workers, sole proprietors, small LLCs, non-employer businesses, and to nonprofit arts organizations of all sizes.
• Supports the nonprofit arts infrastructure and increases charitable giving by reinstating the above-the-line, universal charitable tax deduction (S. 618 / HR.1704 /H.R. 1081), which was available at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Enacts policies that will ensure rapid processing of the artist visas and consular appointments that are essential to supporting the revival of international cultural activity.

Contributing more than $876.7 billion to the nation’s economy in 2020, the arts and culture sector is an economic engine that directly employs more than 5 million workers nationwide. Data published in March 2022 by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts confirms that losses sustained by the arts and culture sector throughout the nation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to have a serious impact, with employment rates and earned revenue remaining significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.

The 12 mayors who introduced and co-signed this resolution are (in alphabetical order): London N. Breed (San Francisco, CA); Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles, CA); Todd Gloria (San Diego, CA); Martha Guerrero (West Sacramento, CA); Bruce Harrell (Seattle, WA); Tishaura O. Jones (St. Louis, MO); Jim Kenney (Philadelphia, PA); Farrah N. Khan (Irvine, CA); Lori E. Lightfoot (Chicago, IL); Regina Romero (Tucson, AZ); Dean J. Trantalis (Fort Lauderdale, FL); Corey Woods (Tempe, AZ).

ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO ARTS ALLIANCE

The San Francisco Arts Alliance is an alliance of arts organizations working with the San Francisco arts and culture sector. Through a united front, the San Francisco Arts Alliance seeks to lobby legislative issues which impact the arts and culture community on local, state, and federal levels in order to ensure the artistic and economic vitality essential to the equitable recovery of San Francisco’s diverse communities and the rebuilding of social cohesion and trust.