Today, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) joined a bipartisan, bicameral effort urging the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to follow through on quickly relaunching an emergency relief program set up by Congress to support local music, arts, cinema, and other entertainment venues hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month, the SBA pulled back on an attempted launch of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program amid technical difficulties with the application portal.
In a letter sent today, Rep. Axne and 163 members of Congress wrote the SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman to push for an update on the relaunch timeline and stress the need for the program to launch as soon as possible. The members also asked the SBA to include a process for applicants to correct technical errors, ensuring that local small businesses are not cut off from aid due to simple errors.
“Immediately launching SVOG will be critical to ensuring the health of this important industry,” the members wrote. “With each passing day, more independent businesses are forced to shutter permanently or file for bankruptcy. Landlords and banks are no longer permitting deferrals and are pressing for immediate payment of past due accounts; businesses are receiving eviction notices; mom-and-pop businesses are being forced to sell.”
Rep. Axne voted to create the SVOG program last December, and in February she voted to add an additional $1.25 billion in available grant funding through the American Rescue Plan.
The SVOG program includes over $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues, to be administered by SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance. Eligible entities include live venue operators or promoters, live performing arts organization operators, motion picture theater operators, and other relevant museum operators. Qualifying entities must have been in operation as of February 29, 2020.
Eligible applicants may qualify for grants equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue, with the maximum amount available for a single grant award of $10 million. $2 billion is reserved for eligible small employers with up to 50 full-time employees.
The full text of the letter sent to Administrator Guzman can be found below:
Dear Administrator Guzman:
Thank you for your work and that of the entire Small Business Administration (SBA) to ensure the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) emergency relief program is implemented and funding is distributed to eligible recipients as Congress intended. Immediately launching SVOG will be critical to ensuring the health of this important industry.
The Administration’s recent announcement that it is “aiming to reopen the portal by the end of next week” is encouraging, and we urge the Administration to make every effort to meet this goal. As you correctly point out, “this funding is urgently needed now.” With each passing day, more independent businesses are forced to shutter permanently or file for bankruptcy. Landlords and banks are no longer permitting deferrals and are pressing for immediate payment of past due accounts; businesses are receiving eviction notices; mom-and-pop businesses are being forced to sell. The Administration’s announcement is critical to these businesses as they work to meet existing debt obligations during these unprecedented times.
We also respectfully request you continue outreach to potential applicants and finalize guidance that will inform applicants of the precise requirements for eligibility and grant amount. We continue to urge SBA to implement a technical corrections process so reviewers may seek additional information if a submission is rejected due to an obvious technical error. This is consistent with the review opportunity provided under other federal grant programs and would ensure that eligible applicants are not excluded due to an inadvertent failure to comply with a technical requirement of the application process.
The Save Our Stages Act, now the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, was created to prevent widespread closures of shuttered venues. As supporters of the SVOG program, we look forward to the start of the program this week and stand ready to work with you to ensure proper and timely aid to applicants within each priority period.
Original source can be found here.
