Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to professional nonprofit theaters.
Establishes the Professional Nonprofit Theater Grant Program to support employment, economic recovery, stimulate economic development, strengthen community-based arts organizations, and improve theater facilities.
Eligible entities for grants include nonprofit organizations that produce or present live theater, compensate professional performers and related personnel at prevailing minimum rates, have a 3-year history of programming, demonstrate a loss in revenue or serve historically underserved communities, have no net earnings benefiting private stockholders or individuals, and have not violated certain labor laws.
Grant applications must include attestations regarding labor practices, workplace conditions, compensation rates, and the use of funds to provide or facilitate gainful employment for professional performers and related personnel.
Grants can be used for payroll, rent, utilities, mortgage interest payments, administrative costs, scenery fabrication, facility improvements for accessibility, marketing, workforce development programs, and construction or acquisition of new facilities for eligible entities with annual revenue and assets less than $30,000,000.
Grant amount limitations are the lesser of 20% of the eligible entity’s total expenditures during the most recent fiscal year or $16,000,000, with specific prohibitions against reducing professional performer positions.
Priority for grants may be given to entities allocating the majority of funds for payroll costs and those serving as the primary theatrical venue for a geographical region.
Authorizes the Secretary to use up to 1% of program funds for technical assistance to eligible entities, prioritizing those without previous Federal grant experience.
Authorizes $1,000,000,000 for the program for fiscal years 2024 through 2028, with at least 50% reserved for entities primarily producing theater.
Requires the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities to conduct a study on Federal support for the nonprofit arts sector, considering steps to sustain the sector and bolster its economic impact, and to report the findings to Congress within 2 years.
Authorizes $1,000,000 to carry out the study on sustaining the nonprofit arts sector.