Action Alerts
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TCG is a founding members of the Performing Arts Alliance (PAA), the premiere advocate for America's professional nonprofit arts organizations, artists and their publics before the US Congress and key policy makers. Example Action Alerts are listed below in chronological order. Sign up today!
9/15/11: The President’s Job’s Bill and Not-for-Profits
The good news: President Obama’s new jobs bill, released Monday 9/12, includes nonprofits in its tax credits that go to companies that hire veterans and long-term unemployed people. The tax credits would apply to payroll taxes, which nonprofit employers pay, instead of to income taxes. An employer could get a tax credit of $2,400 for hiring a veteran who has been unemployed for at least four weeks and $5,600 for a veteran who has been out of work for at least six months. It could get a tax credit of up to $4,000 for hiring any other individual who has been unemployed for at least six months.
The bad news: President Obama’s job bill also includes $467 billion in tax code changes he proposes to use to pay for the bill. The offsets include a 28 percent cap on itemized deductions - including the charitable deduction - for individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and households earning more than $250,000 per year. The cap on individual deductions is expected to generate $400 billion in revenue over 10 years. House Republicans have rejected the proposed offsets, noting that members of Congress from both parties have rejected these proposals in the past.
ACTION: Please contact your Members of Congress to let them know that this is a time to preserve the capacity of the not-for-profit sector to serve communities by protecting incentives for charitable giving! Click here to send a personalized letter and invite your friends to do the same.
7/7/11: NEA Funding Threatened Disproportionately
On July 7, 2011 the U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee voted to cut National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding by $20 million for FY12 from the current funding level of $155 million. The NEA already suffered a $12.5 million decrease last year and today's proposal more than doubles the $9 million reduction recommended by President Obama in FY12. The Subcommittee's nearly 13% cut is also disproportionate to the 7% cut to the overall spending levels in the entire Interior bill.
ACTION: The full House Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on the FY12 Interior Appropriations bill next week. In advance, it is extremely important that members of the Appropriations Committee hear from constituents supporting funding for the NEA. Click here to send a personalized letter and invite your friends to do the same.
5/14/11: Prevent the Elimination of Arts Education Funding
In the coming weeks, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill that would eliminate the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education. H.R. 1891, the Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act, would eliminate 43 K-12 federal education programs. This bill, which the House Education and Workforce Committee passed along party lines on May 25, is an even more serious threat than the annual federal funding measures, as H.R. 1891 would permanently strip the language out of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that allows the Arts in Education program to be funded each year.
ACTION: As we move closer to a vote, now is the time to contact your members of Congress to make sure they know the importance of protecting Arts Education funding. Click here to send a personalized letter and invite your friends to do the same.
5/2/11: Charitable Giving Incentives At Risk
Legislators will soon be focused on tax and budget matters including consideration of proposals that put the income tax deduction to 501(c)(3) organizations at risk. The President's FY12 budget proposal looks to limit deductibility for charitable gifts to 28% for higher income tax payers which could reduce charitable giving by as much as $7 billion per year. Eliminating the charitable deduction would produce an estimated 25 to 36 percent decrease in annual giving.
ACTION: Communicate to your members of Congress that charitable giving incentives are critical to the health of nonprofit organizations, including the nonprofit arts, and support the valuable community services provided by the full range of nonprofit organizations. Click here to send a personalized letter and invite friends to do the same.
4/5/11: Support Arts Advocacy Day 2011!
On April 5th, 2011, arts advocates from around the country descended on Capitol Hill to ask Congress to support the arts. But that is not enough - we need your input as well! Every member of Congress, in every state, needs to hear from theatres across the country, and that is where you come in. Even if you couldn’t attend in person, you can help support the arts.
ACTION: Ask your Congress to support funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education, to preserve incentives for charitable giving, to support legislation ensuring timely visa processing for foreign guest artists, and to increase funding for cultural exchange. Click here to contact your members of Congress and communicate the value of the performing arts.
4/5/11: Support Funding for the Arts in Education Program
The U.S. Department of Education’s Arts in Education program provides federal support to performing arts organizations for the development, evaluation, and dissemination of model programs that integrate arts instruction into other subject areas.
ACTION: Ask your Representative and Senators to support funding for this important program. Click here to contact your elected officials and support funding the U.S. Department Education’s work in arts education.
4/5/11: Strengthen Arts Education in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Despite overwhelming public support for arts education, access to arts education in our schools is eroding. School systems are focusing largely on reading and math at the expense of arts education and other core subjects of learning.
ACTION: Ask your Representative and Senators to support strengthening arts education in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Click here to send your elected officials a message strengthening arts education in ESEA.
4/5/11: Increase Funding for Cultural Exchange Programs
The State Department’s Cultural Programs Division is the principal office focused on cultural diplomacy. Ask your Representative and Senators to support increased funding by $10 million in FY12 for cultural exchange programs at the U.S. Department of State.
ACTION: Click here to send your elected officials a personalized message highlighting the importance of the arts in cultural exchange diplomacy.
4/5/11: Protect Wireless Microphones Used by Performing Arts Organizations
Professional wireless sound equipment is used to provide high-quality audio to performing arts audiences. The FCC's introduction of new wireless devices in radio frequencies currently used for wireless microphone and related audio equipment could have a negative impact on theatres’ backstage operations.
ACTION: Ask your Representative and Senators to oppose legislation that would allow unlicensed devices to threaten wireless microphones used in theaters and nonprofit performance venues. Click here to send your elected officials a message protecting wireless microphones used by theatres.
3/1/11: Restore FY11 Funding for Arts in Education and NEA!
As the long-term FY11 budget resolution debate continues, your help is needed to urge Congress to restore funding for the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The House FY11 long-term budget resolution eliminates funding for the Arts in Education program and includes a $43.1 million decrease in NEA funding. It is important the arts community raise its voice and urge legislators to restore funding to both of these programs.
ACTION: Click here to send your members of Congress a personalized message urging them to restore funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arts in Education program at the U.S Department of Education.
2/17/11: House Passes Amendment to Cut NEA Funding
On February 17, the House of Representatives approved an amendment offered by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI-7) to cut FY11 funding to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) by $20.6 million. This was on top of the $22.5 million funding reduction already recommended by the House Appropriations Committee.
ACTION: In the next few days, please take a minute to view the Roll Call Vote on the Walberg amendment to see how your Representative voted and send a follow up message. Click here to send a message to your elected officials urging them to restore the NEA’s budget.
News Alert--Discussions in Congress on FY 2011 Appropriations Continue: As the lame duck session in Congress progresses, it is uncertain the direction the House and Senate are expected to take on appropriations. The federal government is currently funded by a Continuing Resolution (CR) through December 3 at FY 2010 levels, so Congress will need to act before that date to keep the government running. One possibility is an additional CR to fund the government until the new Congress takes office in January, and another option is for Congress to pass a year-end FY 2011 omnibus spending package by December 3. Stay tuned for updates on the funding direction Congress takes.
News Alert—Proposed Consolidation of the Arts in Education Program at the US DOE: The President's FY 2011 budget proposed consolidating a number of programs, including the Arts in Education programs, into a new funding category called Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education. The proposed consolidation has been rejected by appropriators in Congress. The Senate Appropriations Committee has preserved the Arts in Education programs by including $42 million for FY 2011, and the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies has recommended level funding of $40 million.
9/14/10: First Annual Arts in Education Week-- September 12 - 18, 2010 In late July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed resolution H.Con.Res. 275 designating the second week of September "Arts in Education Week." During this important week, every member of Congress, in every state, needs to hear from their constituents on the value of arts education in our schools. This is also an excellent opportunity to advocate for arts education at the local level with your school board. ACTION: Contact your elected official to support the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education.
7/28/10: House Interior Appropriations Subcommitte approves $2.5 million increase to the NEA The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee has approved a $2.5 million increase for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), bringing NEA funding to $170 million for FY 2011. Current funding for the agency totals $167.5 million. This is a noteworthy increase given the current discretionary spending freeze in place. ACTION: Contact your elected official to support this increase in NEA funding.
7/22/10 Visa Processing Improvements Promised by USCIS
In a meeting on July 20th U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) promised public stakeholders that processing times for regularly-filed artist visa petitions will no longer exceed 14 days and that significant improvements to the quality of artist visa processing will soon be underway. The agency is making a major effort to revise its policy and training programs for its two US service centers in response to requests from the nonprofit performing arts community and following significant intervention by leaders in the House, Senate, and the White House Domestic Policy Council. Following years of advocacy on this issue, the Performing Arts Alliance is extremely pleased with this week's breakthrough.
ACTION: TCG in partnership with the Performing Art Alliance and the Performing Arts Visa Working Group will continue to seek the promised improvements, and your examples of visa challenges are essential as we continue to communicate with USCIS headquarters. Please report theatre related visa problems to Laurie Baskin, Director of Government and Education Programs at TCG. For more information about visa processing for artists from abroad, please see the PAA’s Action Alert.
7/19/10: File Comments on Fee Increase Proposal from USCIS
Performing arts organizations experiencing difficulty obtaining artist visas have a new opportunity to weigh in with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as the agency proposes an across-the-board fee increase. USCIS proposes a $5 increase in the fee for the regular I-129 visa processing form (which would bring the fee to $325), and a $225 increase in the Premium Processing fee (bringing the total fee to $1,225).
ACTION: Your theatre can urge USCIS to make immediate, long-overdue improvements to the regular artist visa process and to refrain from increasing the already-unaffordable Premium Processing fee. Comments to USCIS are due by July 26. Click here to see the Performing Arts Alliance Website, Action Alert, and to learn more about filing comments.
5/14/1o: Weigh In With USCIS
In response to concerns expressed by the Performing Arts Alliance (PAA) and the broader national performing arts community, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has opened a public comment period on one aspect of the artist visa process: the amount of time allowable between multiple engagements in a single visa approval period. The PAA, in partnership with our national performing arts sector colleagues, will submit detailed comments to USCIS. We encourage you to consider submitting comments on behalf of your performing arts organization to give greater voice to the concerns about the artist visa process.
ACTION: Please read through our simple talking points that may be modified to include details about your organization's experience with the visa process; then file comments with USCIS by Monday, May 24, 2010. Click here to see the Performing Arts Alliance Website, an Action Alert on this issue, and to access other resources on visas and the performing artis.
3/20/10: Support an Increase in Funding for the NEA
President Obama’s FY2011 budget was recently released and it contained mixed news for the arts community. The president ultimately proposed the same funding allocation that he proposed last year for the NEA, $161.3 million. The NEA is currently funded at $167.5 million, so the president's proposal would translate to a $6.2 million decrease in funding.
ACTION: Please take a moment to write your Senators and Representative and ask them to increase funding for the NEA to $180 million for FY2011. Click here to view this Action Alert on the Performing Arts Alliance Website, and to send an e-mail to your elected officials.
3/14/10: Improve Visa Processing for Foreign Guest Artists
Urge your Representatives and Senators to enact the Arts Require Timely Service (ARTS) Act (H.R. 1785 and S.1409), which will require USCIS to reduce the total processing times for O and P petitions filed by, or on behalf of, nonprofit arts-related organizations to a maximum of 45 days. The measure passed the full House on April 1, 2008, and was re-introduced in 2009 in the Senate. The legislation has broad bipartisan support, and has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office as having no cost to the federal government.
ACTION: Ask your Representative and Senators to support legislation that will improve the visa process for foreign guest artists. Click here to see the Performing Arts Alliance Webpage, an Action Alert on this issue, and to access a sample letter.
2/4/10: FCC Issues Notice to Vacate the 700s MGz Band
On January 15, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an Order and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking making effective their call for wireless microphone users to vacate the 700 MHz spectrum by June 12, 2010. Performing arts organizations using wireless microphones must comply with the FCC's order and leave the 700 MHz Band as soon as possible.
ACTION: If you have not already done so, be sure to confirm the frequencies on which your wireless microphones operate. If they operate in the 700 MHz Band, consult the FCC's online resource to verify if your equipment can be modified to operate outside of the affected spectrum. Depending on make and model, some of your equipment could be re-banded with a new frequency range, so it is important to begin this process immediately.
1/27/10: TCG joins Coalition of Wireless Microphone Users Theatre Communications Group has joined the Coalition of Wireless Microphone Users (CWMU) led by the Broadway League. This coalition also includes organizations from other sectors which utilize wireless microphone technology. Government Affairs Staff from the Performing Arts Alliance have had meetings with senior staff in both commissioner Copps and McDowell’s offices, and on September 11, TCG executive director Teresa Eyring, along with other representatives of the CWMU met with Ruth Milkman, Wireless Communications Bureau Chief; Erin McGrath, advisor to Commissioner Baker; and David Goldman, legal advisor to Chairman Genachowski. They discussed the White Space issue and FCC staff members were receptive to the concerns expressed by the CWMU. ACTION: Sign up for action alerts from the Performing Arts Alliance.
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