7/28/20 10pm Update:

The House passed a final version of the bill to be engrossed. It includes a total of $11M is included in the House bill for arts and culture:

• $6M to promote artists, local museums, local performing arts organizations, local performance venues, and other arts and cultural nonprofit organizations
• $5M to ensure students have access to remote cultural experiences and a statewide commission on COVID recovery for the creative and cultural sectors.
  

Please make sure thank your state rep for their work on behalf of arts and culture in the Commonwealth

On Friday, the House released its draft of H.4879, An Act enabling partnerships for growth — this economic development bond bill authorizes the Baker administration to spend funds on economic development priorities. Included in the draft are two items for arts and culture: $5M for artists and local museums to share and promote their work virtually and $5M for students to access experiences from arts and cultural organizations.

This is a good start. But more is needed.

There are four amendments we believe are necessary to ensure further protection and relief for the arts and cultural community:

• #111 - filed by Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Chair McMurtry, which increases the fund for arts and cultural virtual promotion to $10 million and includes all arts and cultural nonprofit organizations in the grant program.
• #254 - filed by Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Chair McMurtry, which authorizes $20 million to the Cultural Facilities Fund for necessary COVID-19 related capital expenses to keep arts and culture patriots, staff and artists safe.
• #78 - filed by Rep. Biele, which creates a live theater tax credit pilot program that would support the recovery of presenting arts venues and get artists, technicians, front of house and artisans back to work.
• #140 - filed by Rep. Chan, which extends the motion picture industry tax credit that is essential to protecting Massachusetts' film industry. 

These amendments would authorize Governor Baker $35 million in spending to protect arts and culture in Massachusetts.  

There are also two amendments that would limit the reach and effectiveness of state relief to arts and culture:

• #133 - would restrict some arts and cultural organizations from accessing vital relief funds included in the bill. It would also require the Mass Cultural Council to ignore population density and community need when distributing these funds.
• #224 - would refocus the arts and cultural COVID-19 recovery study commission’s work, and exclude the voices of practicing artists, cultural organizations and arts policy groups from the process. 

We at MASSCreative want to ensure that the arts and cultural community receives the relief we need. We need your help right now.

The House expects to pass this bill by the end of the day, so your representative needs to hear from you as soon as possible. In most cases, the more sponsors an amendment has, the better its chances are for adoption.  

Email your State Representative and let them know we need their help to protect arts and culture. 

Cosponsors on amendments to protect arts and culture in Massachusetts (as of 10 pm, Tuesday July 28, 2020)