I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7918 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to award grants to emerging artists to 

support their early development. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2024 

Mr. FROST (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. CASAR, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to award grants to 

emerging artists to support their early development. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cultivating Resources 

5 for Emerging Artists to Thrive and Excel in Art Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘CREATE Art Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF EMERGING ARTISTS GRANT 

8 PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap10 propriations, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with 


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1 the Committee established under section 3, may award the 

2 grants described in subsection (b), on a competitive basis, 

3 to emerging artists. 

4 (b) DESCRIPTION OF GRANTS.— 

5 (1) PROGRESS GRANT.—Grants not to exceed 

6 $2,000 per grant may be awarded under this Act to 

7 eligible emerging artists for allowable costs to sup8 port a year of artist activities such as recording, 

9 touring, showcasing, video production, and mar10 keting. 

11 (2) PROJECT GRANT.—Grants may be awarded 

12 under this Act to eligible emerging artists not to ex13 ceed $100,000 per proposed project, covering allow14 able costs incurred within 24 months after the date 

15 of initial grant application. 

16 (3) LIVE PERFORMANCE GRANT.—Grants not 

17 to exceed $35,000 may be awarded under this Act 

18 to emerging artists for live performances, as long 

19 as— 

20 (A) not more than $20,000 per grant is 

21 expended for live performance domestic touring; 

22 and 

23 (B) any emerging artist receiving such 

24 grant has a current release or an upcoming re25 lease. 


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1 (4) DEVELOPMENT FUND.—Grants not to ex2 ceed $10,000 may be awarded under this Act to 

3 emerging artists to pay for working and living ex4 penses while researching, write, or cultivating stories 

5 and projects. 

6 (c) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS; GRANT RE8 CIPIENTS.— 

9 (A) ARTISTS, PRODUCERS, AND PUB10 LISHERS.—An artist manager, producer, or 

11 publisher may fill out the grant application on 

12 behalf of an emerging artist under this Act, as 

13 long as— 

14 (i) the artist is the named applicant 

15 and incurs the related costs directly; and 

16 (ii) such costs are not incurred by the 

17 manager, producer, or publisher and then 

18 charged back to the artist. 

19 (B) RECORD LABELS.—Record labels may 

20 not receive a grant under this Act. Artists 

21 signed to a record label may apply, but the art22 ist shall incur the related costs directly. Such 

23 costs may not be incurred by the record label 

24 and then charged back to the artist. 


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1 (C) APPLICANTS WHO ARE MINORS.—Ap2 plicants under 18 years of age shall submit a 

3 signed parent or legal guardian consent form 

4 with the grant application. 

5 (2) USES OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of this Act, any grant awarded under 

7 this Act may be used only to pay allowable costs in8 curred for the purchase of goods and services re9 ceived in the United States by the grantee that are 

10 provided by citizens of the United States or by enti11 ties owned or controlled by citizens of the United 

12 States. 

13 (3) LABOR PROTECTIONS.— 

14 (A) PROHIBITION.—An individual grant 

15 recipient may not utilize grant awards to sub16 sidize paid or unpaid work for professional per17 formers and related or supporting professional 

18 personnel employed on projects or productions 

19 which are financed in whole or in part under 

20 this section. 

21 (B) PREVAILING WAGES, AND SAFE WORK22 ING CONDITIONS.—It shall be a condition of the 

23 receipt of any grant under this Act that the re24 cipient of such grant shall furnish assurances to 

25 the Secretary of Labor, consistent with the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:08 Apr 19, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7918.IH H7918

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1 quirements of section 5(m) of the National 

2 Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 954(m)), that— 

4 (i) professional performers and related 

5 or supporting professional personnel em6 ployed on projects or productions which 

7 are financed in whole or in part under this 

8 section— 

9 (I) will be paid, without subse10 quent deduction or rebate on any ac11 count, not less than the minimum 

12 compensation as determined by the 

13 Secretary of Labor to be the pre14 vailing minimum compensation for 

15 persons employed in similar activities; 

16 and 

17 (II) will be able to maintain any 

18 existing collective bargaining agree19 ment for the term of the grant and 2 

20 years after such term ends; and 

21 (ii) no part of any project or produc22 tion which is financed in whole or in part 

23 under this section— 

24 (I) will be performed or engaged 

25 in under working conditions which are 


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1 unsanitary or hazardous or dangerous 

2 to the health and safety of the em3 ployees engaged in such project or 

4 production; or 

5 (II) will be used to engage in any 

6 activity that is subject to reporting re7 quirements set forth in section 203(a) 

8 of the Labor-Management Reporting 

9 and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 

10 U.S.C. 433(a)) for the term of the 

11 grant, project, or tour (whichever is 

12 longest). 

13 (4) PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST

14 CERTAIN NONCITIZENS.—Participation in programs 

15 and activities or receiving funds under this Act shall 

16 be available to citizens and nationals of the United 

17 States, lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens, 

18 refugees, asylees, and parolees, and other immi19 grants authorized by the Attorney General to work 

20 in the United States. 

21 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FOR EMERGING ART22 IST GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 

25 establish a Development Committee for Emerging Artist 


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1 Grant Program to provide consultation to the Secretary 

2 of Labor on the development and implementation of the 

3 grant programs under section 2, including to evaluate 

4 grant applications. 

5 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be 

7 composed of— 

8 (A) 4 representatives of the arts industry 

9 (such as music producers, gallery owners or op10 erators, or a production company for a theater); 

11 (B) 4 labor representatives in the arts in12 dustry; and 

13 (C) 4 emerging artists. 

14 (2) TERMS OF SERVICE.—Each member of the 

15 Commission shall serve a 6-year term. 

16 (c) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Committee 

17 shall receive compensation for their service on the Com18 mittee. 

19 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) ALLOWABLE COSTS.—The term ‘‘allowable 

22 costs’’ means any costs associated with developing, 

23 producing, and performing art, including costs asso24 ciated with reserving space, studio time, third-party 


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1 personnel costs, third-party production costs, and 

2 marketing. 

3 (2) EMERGING ARTIST.—The term ‘‘emerging 

4 artist’’ means an artist who— 

5 (A) has individually earned, from the art 

6 of such artist, less than $50,000 in net earn7 ings during the previous 5 years and not more 

8 than $400,000 in net earnings during the pre9 vious 20 years; 

10 (B) has evidence of regular creative prac11 tice; 

12 (C) produces or presents projects or pro13 grams that are relevant to the community and 

14 accessible to the public; and 

15 (D) meets any other requirements of the 

16 Secretary of Labor for purposes of this Act. 

17 (3) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 3 of the National 

19 Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 

20 1965 (20 U.S.C. 952). 

Æ 


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