I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7894 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to 

authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to professional 

nonprofit theaters for the purposes of supporting operations, employment, 

and economic development. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2024 

Ms. BONAMICI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Education and the Workforce, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Commerce 

to make grants to professional nonprofit theaters for 

the purposes of supporting operations, employment, and 

economic development. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Theater 

3 and the Arts to Galvanize the Economy Act’’ or the 

4 ‘‘STAGE Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL NONPROFIT THEATER GRANTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Public Works and 

7 Economic Development Act of 1965 is amended by insert8 ing after section 207 (42 U.S.C. 3147) the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 208. PROFESSIONAL NONPROFIT THEATER GRANTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab11 lish a grant program, to be known as the ‘Professional 

12 Nonprofit Theater Grant Program’ (referred to in this 

13 section as the ‘program’), to provide to eligible entities 

14 funding for the purposes of— 

15 ‘‘(1) supporting employment and economic re16 covery; 

17 ‘‘(2) stimulating economic development; 

18 ‘‘(3) strengthening community-based arts orga19 nizations; and 

20 ‘‘(4) improving theater facilities. 

21 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An entity eligible to receive 

23 a grant under the program is a nonprofit organiza24 tion described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

25 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 

26 under section 501(a) of that Code— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that produces or presents live theater 

2 and other performing arts; 

3 ‘‘(B) that compensates all professional per4 formers and related or supporting professional 

5 personnel at a rate that is not less than the 

6 prevailing minimum compensation for persons 

7 employed in similar activities as described in 

8 section 5(m) of the National Foundation on the 

9 Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 954(m)); 

11 ‘‘(C) that, prior to the date of application, 

12 has not less than a 3-year history of program13 ming; 

14 ‘‘(D)(i) that demonstrates a loss in gross 

15 or net revenue, adjusted for inflation, as de16 fined by the Secretary; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) that primarily serves historically un18 derserved communities, including populations 

19 whose opportunities to experience the arts have 

20 been limited relative to geography, economics, 

21 race or ethnicity, or disability; 

22 ‘‘(E) that has no net earnings benefitting 

23 a private stockholder or individual; 

24 ‘‘(F) the primary purpose of which is the 

25 nonprofit arts industry; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) that, during the 3-year period pre2 ceding the date of application, has not been 

3 issued an administrative merits determination, 

4 arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as 

5 defined in regulations issued by the Secretary 

6 of Labor, for any violation of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

8 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Occupational Safety and 

10 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 

11 seq.); 

12 ‘‘(iii) subchapter IV of chapter 31 of 

13 title 40, United States Code (commonly 

14 known as the ‘Davis-Bacon Act’); 

15 ‘‘(iv) chapter 67 of title 41, United 

16 States Code (commonly known as the 

17 ‘Service Contract Act’); 

18 ‘‘(v) Executive Order 11246 (42 

19 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal em20 ployment opportunity); 

21 ‘‘(vi) section 503 of the Rehabilitation 

22 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 793); 

23 ‘‘(vii) section 4212 of title 38, United 

24 States Code; 


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1 ‘‘(viii) the Family and Medical Leave 

2 Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(ix) title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

4 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); 

5 ‘‘(x) title I of the Americans with Dis6 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et 

7 seq.); 

8 ‘‘(xi) the Age Discrimination in Em9 ployment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et 

10 seq.); 

11 ‘‘(xii) Executive Order 13658 (79 

12 Fed. Reg. 9851; relating to establishing a 

13 minimum wage for contractors); 

14 ‘‘(xiii) the Pregnant Workers Fairness 

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 2000gg et seq.); 

16 ‘‘(xiv) the National Labor Relations 

17 Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or 

18 ‘‘(xv) any applicable State or local 

19 labor or employment law, as defined in 

20 regulations issued by the Secretary of 

21 Labor. 

22 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF 3-YEAR HISTORY OF PRO23 GRAMMING.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 

25 term ‘3-year history of programming’ means a 


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1 period of 3 or more years, consecutively or non2 consecutively, beginning before August 1, 2020, 

3 during which the nonprofit organization pro4 vided programming. 

5 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—In the case of a non6 profit organization that previously operated a 

7 program as a part of another entity, the non8 profit organization may include in the 3-year 

9 history of programming any arts programming 

10 carried out by the nonprofit organization as 

11 part of the other entity. 

12 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 

15 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

16 in such manner, and containing such information as 

17 the Secretary may require. 

18 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.—In the case of an eligible 

19 entity with low organizational capacity, as deter20 mined by the Secretary, the Secretary may waive the 

21 prohibition under section 213. 

22 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In any ap23 plication submitted under paragraph (1), an eligible 

24 entity shall include an attestation to the Secretary 

25 that during the term of the grant— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the eligible entity will not abrogate 

2 existing collective bargaining agreements of em3 ployees of the eligible entity; 

4 ‘‘(B) the eligible entity will remain neutral 

5 regarding any labor organizing efforts by the 

6 employees of the eligible entity; 

7 ‘‘(C) the eligible entity will provide work8 place conditions that are sanitary and not haz9 ardous or dangerous to the health and safety of 

10 an employee as provided under section 5(m) of 

11 the National Foundation on the Arts and the 

12 Humanities Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 954(m)); 

13 ‘‘(D) the eligible entity will compensate all 

14 professional performers and related or sup15 porting professional personnel at a rate that is 

16 not less than the prevailing minimum com17 pensation for persons employed in similar ac18 tivities as described in section 5(m) of the Na19 tional Foundation on the Arts and the Human20 ities Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 954(m)); and 

21 ‘‘(E) the use of funds by the eligible entity 

22 will contribute to providing or facilitating gain23 ful employment for professional performers and 

24 related or supporting professional personnel. 


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1 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE USES.—A grant provided under the 

2 program may be used for any of the following, subject to 

3 the condition that the use will contribute to the long-term 

4 economic viability of the eligible entity and the employ5 ment of professional performers and related or supporting 

6 professional personnel: 

7 ‘‘(1) Payroll costs for professional performers 

8 and related or supporting professional personnel. 

9 ‘‘(2) Rent, utilities, mortgage interest pay10 ments, scheduled interest payments on scheduled 

11 debt and outstanding loans, administrative costs, 

12 and other ordinary and necessary business and oper13 ating expenses, as determined by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(3) Expenses associated with the fabrication of 

15 scenery, costumes, and other elements for live theat16 rical productions. 

17 ‘‘(4) Costs associated with the improvement, re18 pair, or maintenance of an existing facility housing 

19 theatrical productions, projects, performances, work20 shops, or programs, with priority given to costs for 

21 upgrades necessary for fully accessible workplaces 

22 for professional performers and related or sup23 porting professional personnel with disabilities. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Marketing expenses to promote produc2 tions, projects, performances, workshops, programs, 

3 or recruitment of staff and artists. 

4 ‘‘(6) Investments in workforce development pro5 grams, including paid job training and retraining 

6 programs related to the operation of professional 

7 nonprofit theaters. 

8 ‘‘(7) In the case of an eligible entity that has, 

9 during the 3-year period preceding the date of appli10 cation, an average combined annual revenue and as11 sets of less than $30,000,000, costs associated with 

12 the construction or acquisition of a new facility to 

13 house theatrical productions, projects, performances, 

14 workshops, or programs. 

15 ‘‘(8) Other uses, as determined by the Sec16 retary. 

17 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant provided under the 

19 program shall not exceed an amount equal to the 

20 lesser of— 

21 ‘‘(A) 20 percent of the total expenditures 

22 of the eligible entity during the most recent fis23 cal year; and 

24 ‘‘(B) $16,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NO REDUCTION OF PROFESSIONAL PER2 FORMERS.—An eligible entity may not use trainees, 

3 interns, or other similar positions to displace, sub4 stitute for, supplant, or otherwise replace profes5 sional performers and related or supporting profes6 sional personnel. 

7 ‘‘(f) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under the pro8 gram, the Secretary may give priority to— 

9 ‘‘(1) an application from an eligible entity that 

10 plans to allocate the majority of the grant funds for 

11 uses described in subsection (d)(1); and 

12 ‘‘(2) an application from an eligible entity that 

13 serves as the primary theatrical venue for a geo14 graphical region. 

15 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use not 

17 more than 1 percent of funds made available to 

18 carry out the program to provide technical assist19 ance to eligible entities requiring assistance navi20 gating the Federal grants process. 

21 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing technical assist22 ance under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give 

23 priority to eligible entities that have not previously 

24 received a Federal grant. 

25 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

2 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the pro3 gram $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

4 through 2028. 

5 ‘‘(2) RESERVATIONS.—Of the amounts made 

6 available under paragraph (1) for each fiscal year, 

7 not less than 50 percent shall be reserved for eligible 

8 entities that primarily produce theater.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

10 contained in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Eco11 nomic Development Act of 1965 (Public Law 89–136; 79 

12 Stat. 552; 112 Stat. 3597; 118 Stat. 1761) is amended 

13 by inserting after the item relating to section 207 the fol14 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 208. Professional nonprofit theater grants.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. STUDY ON SUSTAINING THE NONPROFIT ARTS SEC16 TOR. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the President’s Committee 

19 on the Arts and the Humanities, in consultation with the 

20 Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, the 

21 Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Human22 ities, and the Director of the Institute of Museum and Li23 brary Services, shall conduct a study on Federal support 

24 for the nonprofit arts sectors. 


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1 (b) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under sub2 section (a), the President’s Committee on the Arts and 

3 the Humanities shall consider, and include recommenda4 tions regarding, the steps the Federal Government can 

5 take to sustain the nonprofit arts sector and bolster the 

6 economic impact of that sector for workers, small busi7 nesses, and communities, including rural and underserved 

8 communities. 

9 (c) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—In conducting the study 

10 under subsection (a), the President’s Committee on the 

11 Arts and the Humanities shall solicit input from stake12 holders, including artists, nonprofit arts organizations and 

13 employees of nonprofit arts organizations, small busi14 nesses, organized labor organizations representing workers 

15 in the nonprofit arts sector, and State, local, and Tribal 

16 governments. 

17 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, the President’s Committee on 

19 the Arts and the Humanities shall— 

20 (1) submit to Congress a report on the results 

21 of the study conducted under subsection (a); and 

22 (2) make the report publicly available. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to carry out this 

3 section. 

Æ 


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