THE ARTS NEED THE ERTC!

Posted September 23, 2021

Your voice has made a real difference as Congress shaped relief and recovery resources for our industry over the past year. Now, we need your help once more!

Please take five minutes to contact your U.S. Representative to call on them to retain and expand the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). The ERTC allows hardest-hit businesses to claim a credit against all employees’ qualified wages. The ERTC has been a critical form of support for re-opening and rehiring employees amid the ongoing pandemic and is currently available through December 31, 2021, but its duration is now in jeopardy.

The recent Infrastructure bill that was passed by the Senate – involved a measure to repeal the 2021 fourth quarter access to the ERTC. Many theatres have been counting on access to the ERTC program through the end of 2021 to support their hiring and program commitments.

The Coronavirus has had a devastating $8.4 billion economic impact on America’s arts sector with a 67% unemployment rate among artists and gig workers. As arts and culture organizations reopen this fall, the continuation of ERTC will ensure we can support artists, programs and staff that we have ALREADY COMMITTED TO during this challenging time. If the ERTC is repealed for 4th quarter, arts organizations and small businesses nationwide will lose substantial recovery support for jobs and force us to make difficult decisions on who we can employ and what programming we can execute in 2021-2022.

ACT NOW. Our elected officials need to hear directly from you that our theatre needs this ERTC job support.

Please call or email your US Representatives NOW!

Find your representative’s name, email, and phone, go to www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Sending an email only takes a moment of your time and you can feel proud that you did your part in assisting arts orgs with this important tax credit. Spread the word by sharing this email so your friends and colleagues can be a part of the effort as well!

If you are calling, tell your representative:

“My name is (your full and last name) and I am (family provider/advocate/community member) who resides in your district and my zip code is ______. The broad infrastructure bill that was passed by the Senate earlier this month includes a measure to repeal the 2021 fourth quarter access to the ERTC.

The infrastructure package still needs to be taken up by the House. I strongly oppose the repeal of the ERTC for fourth quarter and ask that Representative _____ advocate to protect the full duration of the ERTC in the infrastructure bill before the house votes on the measure later this month.

ERTC is providing essential support for hard hit small businesses who have already hired employees counting on this 4th Quarter support. It’s devastating to take that away at this late date, particularly for arts and culture organizations that I love that are still struggling to re-open their doors.

Thank you for passing this message on and for your hard work!”

If you are emailing, use this sample email below:

Copy/paste the text, and If you can add a sentence or two near the beginning that expresses what personally motivated you to write or why you care, that increases the impact. But it’s better to send this email as-is than none at all!

(Date)
The Honorable (First name) (Last name)

SUBJECT: Support Continuation of Q4 2021 Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC)

Dear (Representative/Senator/Congressman or Congresswoman) (Last name):

My name is (your full and last name), and I am (family provider/advocate/community member) who resides in your district. The broad infrastructure bill that was passed by the Senate earlier this month includes a measure to repeal the 2021 fourth quarter access to the ERTC. The infrastructure package still needs to be taken up by the House.

I strongly oppose the repeal of the ERTC for fourth quarter and ask that you advocate to protect the full duration of the ERTC in the infrastructure bill before the House votes on the measure later this month.

I am a patron of the _______________ in ________________, a live performing arts organization that has been planning on re-hiring dozens of people in fourth quarter for its upcoming re-opening after 18 long months; the ERTC program was helping to make that possible, and now they find that support is in jeopardy. They are only one of thousands of arts organizations and public assembly businesses nationwide who are struggling to re-open and are counting on ERTC in 4th quarter to assist in their recovery.

Again, I urge you to vote to protect the fourth quarter access to the ERTC by making the necessary adjustments to the infrastructure bill as it comes up for a vote in September. Thank you for your hard work on behalf of our community, Georgia, and the nation.

Sincerely,
Type your name
Street address
City, State, Zip

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR ADVOCACY!

Original text from Lisa Adler at Horizon Theatre Company