Thank you to those who responded quickly yesterday to a targeted email (sent to members who participated in the Advocacy webinar on 12/2) asking to include your venue in the attached letters (House/Senate). These letters were delivered to the bi-partisan group of House and Senate members working on COVID relief this morning. The letter urges them and Congress to include publicly owned venues in the next COVID relief bill by expanding eligibility to publicly owned venues under the PPP and also includes them in any new grant or assistance program to help live event organizations.
Please reach out directly to your House and Senate representatives TODAY with a personal note and attach the appropriate letter. Below is an example from IAVM member, Michael Marion, CVE to help get you started.
Dear Senator Cotton,
It seems the Problem Solvers Caucus bipartisan COVID proposal doesn’t allow for government owned arenas like ours to qualify for PPP. It appears to only cover independently owned venues, such as night clubs. As the year draws to a close, we have still not received any assistance from the Cares Act. Even though we have made numerous cuts and furloughed much of our staff, our reserve fund is running low. As we don’t receive any taxpayer funding, our options are becoming limited. Qualifying for assistance would make a real difference in the future of the arena. Could you help get this point across to your colleagues? Thank you for all you do for Arkansas.
If you didn’t receive the email yesterday, we still need your assistance by reaching out to your congressional delegation with the attached information.
For those members who don’t represent publicly created venues, you can still help by crafting a slightly different message to your congressional delegation in support of your colleagues.
Time is running out for legislation to be approved by the end of the year. Please share with your contract administrators as well to spread the word.
Thanks for all that you are doing. Stay Well!
Tammy Koolbeck, CVE
IAVM Board Past Chair
