ADVOCACY

October update from Cultural Advocacy Coalition

Since the end of Oregon’s 2021 legislative session, we’ve been advocating for the $50 million in ARPA funds awarded to Business Oregon to be distributed to the arts and culture sector. We recently received an update from the agency on its progress. 
 
Business Oregon does not yet have access to these ARPA dollars, as the money must first flow from the federal government and to the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), which will execute a contract and interagency agreement with Business Oregon to release the funds. Although this process is under way, we are still waiting. DAS is juggling multiple interests and priorities, including distribution of the $240 million in legislative allocated projects brought forward by each House and Senate member. 
 
We anticipate that Business Oregon’s funding will be made available to theaters, live venues, and live event support in either December 2021 or January 2022:

• Theaters: A total of $5 million will be made available for movie theaters, and Business Oregon expects that the application period for this program may begin in mid-November. 
• Live venues: The program parameters for the $30 million allocated to live venues will be finalized with input from CACO and other partners, but they have not been drafted at this point. Because of bandwidth issues and feedback from various county coalitions, the funds for live venue application recipients will not be disbursed through the county coalition model, but rather through Business Oregon’s Economic Development team. It’s anticipated that this program will go live in mid-January.  
• Live events: The remaining $20 million will be devoted to entities that provide support to “live events.” More information on this program will become available in the coming months. 

Oregon’s legislature is aware of the need to ensure these funds are distributed as quickly as possible. We have been working closely with various House and Senate members to ensure this process moves forward, providing feedback to the agency as appropriate. As members, you can expect that the legislature will host a conversation on this process during the November legislative days, where we’ll be actively engaged. 
 
Please let us hear from you if you have other news on this important topic to share. Stay well and stay safe.