Legislation before the Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Committee that would create a $75 million emergency relief fund for non-profit cultural organizations would “extend a much-needed lifeline,” one of its sponsors said, to an industry where revenues have already cratered by more than a quarter of a billion dollars during the pandemic.
Rep. Smitty Pignatelli, a Lenox Democrat, wrote in a column published Wednesday that directing aid to cultural centers will keep them afloat and “allow them to hit the ground running” once the state emerges from the COVID-19 emergency.
“Once the dust settles and we are allowed to once again meet in person, we will all crave the contact with one another that has been deprived of us during this time of social isolation,” he said.
Last week, the Massachusetts Cultural Council reported that the cultural sector has lost more than $264 million in revenue since the start of the outbreak based on a survey of member organizations.
Almost 700 organizations replied to the council’s questions, and 91 percent said they had canceled programming and events amid the social-distancing era. About 62 percent reported layoffs, furloughs or reducing employee hours and wages to cope with financial hardship, which the council said would impact more than 15,000 Massachusetts workers.
The bill Pignatelli co-filed with Rep. John Barrett III (HD 5017), which the House on Tuesday sent to the Tourism Committee, would offer $75 million in grants to nonprofit cultural organizations “experiencing financial distress as a result of COVID-19.”
