2021 Adopted Resolutions

Urging Increased Support for Arts and Cultural Institutions in our Nation's Rebuilding and Recovery

Resolution Number: 84

WHEREAS, this pandemic has severely impacted our cities in many ways with crippling impacts on artists, arts workers and our arts and cultural organizations, who are integral to enabling our communities to survive and thrive economically, culturally and emotionally; and

WHEREAS, it is our arts and cultural communities that are helping address social isolation and mental health issues, providing direct health benefits to our communities, from seniors to children, and members of our society who are under-resourced, hard to count, and more vulnerable now than they have ever been; and

WHEREAS, the country is at grave risk of permanently losing essential arts and cultural organizational partners that are critical to our national identity and are essential to accelerate our regional recovery efforts; and

WHEREAS, as our nation moves forward, we have a singular opportunity to integrate arts, culture and the creative economy into our national recovery and revitalization efforts; recognizing the great value of purposefully integrating artists and arts organizations into community revitalization efforts; bringing deeper understanding to the catalytic value of artists and the arts in developing stronger and more equitable communities; and

WHEREAS, new initiatives across the country continue to confirm the irrefutable benefit that comes when we firmly position the arts at the table with land-use, transportation, economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, health, climate change, diversity and public safety strategies; and

WHEREAS, the hardest year for the arts and culture industry in many ways is ahead as government orders to shut down disappear, eligibility for key federal aid will disappear; and

WHEREAS, keeping critical federal support open through 2022 ensures the arts have resources to aid in the recovery and rebuilding of our communities; and

WHEREAS, as Congress and the Administration formulates future infrastructure and recovery packages, greater relief is needed for the recovery of our arts and culture communities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors urges Congress and the Administration to provide increased COVID-19 relief and recovery support for the arts and culture sector. Specifically, mayors urge for legislative relief that:
  • Identifies opportunities for artists and arts organizations to be supported by federal programs for infrastructure, education, job creation, and health, coordinating with the Departments of Education, Commerce, Transportation, HUD, Labor, Agriculture, Energy, Justice, EPA, and State; the NEA, NEH, IMLS, and other cultural agencies; local and state government partners; and tribal governments.
  • Extends the ERTC beyond 2021 and modifies nonprofit eligibility beyond the current gross receipts test to reflect the increased costs charitable organizations experience as they struggle to maintain or expand services to meet local needs throughout the health and economic crisis.
  • Invests in reopening the creative economy to enable innovation and supports dedicated relief resources for nonprofit organizations and their workforce, as proposed in the WORK Now Act (S. 740 / H.R.1987) and emerging legislation that will support the creative workforce.
  • Supports the nonprofit arts infrastructure and increases charitable giving by expanding the above-the-line, universal charitable deduction tax incentive through significantly increasing the cap and extending the provision at least through 2022 (S. 618 / HR.1704 /H.R. 1081 ).
  • Enacts policies that will ensure rapid processing of the artist visas and consular appointments that are essential to supporting international cultural activity.
  • Creates positions within the Executive branch and inter-agency coordination to support the arts, culture, and creative economy, with particular attention to relief and recovery efforts.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, mayors see all too clearly that we cannot survive without connection. We have the opportunity to bring the full power of the creative sector to help develop and deploy policy that advances an equitable recovery, nurtures our collective wellbeing, and cultivates a better tomorrow.