# Save Our Stages Extension Act

The Save Our Stages Extension Act is designed to provide additional financial relief to live entertainment venues that have been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down concerts, theater productions, comedy shows, and other live performances. This bill extends and expands a federal grant program that was originally created to help these businesses survive the crisis.

The core of this legislation focuses on getting money directly to independent music venues, theaters, comedy clubs, and other live performance spaces that depend on ticket sales and packed crowds to stay afloat. When lockdowns happened, these businesses lost their entire revenue stream overnight with no way to operate. The original relief program helped some venues, but many were left behind or didn't receive enough to fully recover. This extension gives those venues another chance to apply for grants to cover things like rent, utilities, payroll, and other essential operating costs they couldn't pay during the shutdown.

The bill recognizes that the live entertainment industry has been one of the slowest sectors to recover. Even as other businesses reopened, many venues struggled to rebuild their audience and cash reserves. By extending the grant program, Congress is acknowledging that some venues still face serious financial hardship and need continued government support to survive. For venue owners and employees in the live entertainment industry, this means access to potentially life-saving federal funding. For music fans and theater-goers, it means more of the local venues and cultural institutions they care about have a better chance of staying open for future performances.

Save our Stages Extension Act

Welch, Peter

Save our Stages Extension Act This bill extends to March 11, 2023, the time frame during which Shuttered Venue Operators Grant recipients may use grant funds to cover their expenses. These grants provide funds to certain types of entities in the arts and entertainment industry affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, a recipient may use such funds to cover expenses incurred between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021.