II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4084 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 9, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. FETTERMAN, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

6 ‘‘STAGE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL NONPROFIT THEATER GRANTS. 

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

3 Economic Development Act of 1965 is amended by insert4 ing after section 207 (42 U.S.C. 3147) the following: 

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

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab7 lish a grant program, to be known as the ‘Professional 

8 Nonprofit Theater Grant Program’ (referred to in this 

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

10 funding for the purposes of— 

11 ‘‘(1) supporting employment and economic re12 covery; 

13 ‘‘(2) stimulating economic development; 

14 ‘‘(3) strengthening community-based arts orga15 nizations; and 

16 ‘‘(4) improving theater facilities. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

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

19 a grant under the program is a nonprofit organiza20 tion described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 

22 under section 501(a) of that Code— 

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

24 and other performing arts; 

25 ‘‘(B) that compensates all professional per26 formers and related or supporting professional 


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1 personnel at a rate that is not less than the 

2 prevailing minimum compensation for persons 

3 employed in similar activities as described in 

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

5 Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (20 

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

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

8 has not less than a 3-year history of program9 ming; 

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

11 or net revenue, adjusted for inflation, as de12 fined by the Secretary; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) that primarily serves historically un14 derserved communities, including populations 

15 whose opportunities to experience the arts have 

16 been limited relative to geography, economics, 

17 race or ethnicity, or disability; 

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

19 a private stockholder or individual; 

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

21 nonprofit arts industry; and 

22 ‘‘(G) that, during the 3-year period pre23 ceding the date of application, has not been 

24 issued an administrative merits determination, 

25 arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as 


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1 defined in regulations issued by the Secretary 

2 of Labor, for any violation of— 

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

4 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 

5 ‘‘(ii) the Occupational Safety and 

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

7 seq.); 

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

9 title 40, United States Code (commonly 

10 known as the ‘Davis-Bacon Act’); 

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

12 States Code (commonly known as the 

13 ‘Service Contract Act’); 

14 ‘‘(v) Executive Order 11246 (42 

15 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal em16 ployment opportunity); 

17 ‘‘(vi) section 503 of the Rehabilitation 

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

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

20 States Code; 

21 ‘‘(viii) the Family and Medical Leave 

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

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

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


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1 ‘‘(x) title I of the Americans with Dis2 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et 

3 seq.); 

4 ‘‘(xi) the Age Discrimination in Em5 ployment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et 

6 seq.); 

7 ‘‘(xii) Executive Order 13658 (79 

8 Fed. Reg. 9851; relating to establishing a 

9 minimum wage for contractors); 

10 ‘‘(xiii) the Pregnant Workers Fairness 

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

12 ‘‘(xiv) the National Labor Relations 

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

14 ‘‘(xv) any applicable State or local 

15 labor or employment law, as defined in 

16 regulations issued by the Secretary of 

17 Labor. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF 3-YEAR HISTORY OF PRO19 GRAMMING.— 

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

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

22 period of 3 or more years, consecutively or non23 consecutively, beginning before August 1, 2020, 

24 during which the nonprofit organization pro25 vided programming. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—In the case of a non2 profit organization that previously operated a 

3 program as a part of another entity, the non4 profit organization may include in the 3-year 

5 history of programming any arts programming 

6 carried out by the nonprofit organization as 

7 part of the other entity. 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

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

10 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 

11 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

12 in such manner, and containing such information as 

13 the Secretary may require. 

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

15 entity with low organizational capacity, as deter16 mined by the Secretary, the Secretary may waive the 

17 prohibition under section 213. 

18 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In any ap19 plication submitted under paragraph (1), an eligible 

20 entity shall include an attestation to the Secretary 

21 that during the term of the grant— 

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

23 existing collective bargaining agreements of em24 ployees of the eligible entity; 


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

2 regarding any labor organizing efforts by the 

3 employees of the eligible entity; 

4 ‘‘(C) the eligible entity will provide work5 place conditions that are sanitary and not haz6 ardous or dangerous to the health and safety of 

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

8 the National Foundation on the Arts and the 

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

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

11 professional performers and related or sup12 porting professional personnel at a rate that is 

13 not less than the prevailing minimum com14 pensation for persons employed in similar ac15 tivities as described in section 5(m) of the Na16 tional Foundation on the Arts and the Human17 ities Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 954(m)); and 

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

19 will contribute to providing or facilitating gain20 ful employment for professional performers and 

21 related or supporting professional personnel. 

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

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

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

25 economic viability of the eligible entity and the employVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Apr 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4084.IS S4084

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1 ment of professional performers and related or supporting 

2 professional personnel: 

3 ‘‘(1) Payroll costs for professional performers 

4 and related or supporting professional personnel. 

5 ‘‘(2) Rent, utilities, mortgage interest pay6 ments, scheduled interest payments on scheduled 

7 debt and outstanding loans, administrative costs, 

8 and other ordinary and necessary business and oper9 ating expenses, as determined by the Secretary. 

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

11 scenery, costumes, and other elements for live theat12 rical productions. 

13 ‘‘(4) Costs associated with the improvement, re14 pair, or maintenance of an existing facility housing 

15 theatrical productions, projects, performances, work16 shops, or programs, with priority given to costs for 

17 upgrades necessary for fully accessible workplaces 

18 for professional performers and related or sup19 porting professional personnel with disabilities. 

20 ‘‘(5) Marketing expenses to promote produc21 tions, projects, performances, workshops, programs, 

22 or recruitment of staff and artists. 

23 ‘‘(6) Investments in workforce development pro24 grams, including paid job training and retraining 


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1 programs related to the operation of professional 

2 nonprofit theaters. 

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

4 during the 3-year period preceding the date of appli5 cation, an average combined annual revenue and as6 sets of less than $30,000,000, costs associated with 

7 the construction or acquisition of a new facility to 

8 house theatrical productions, projects, performances, 

9 workshops, or programs. 

10 ‘‘(8) Other uses, as determined by the Sec11 retary. 

12 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS.— 

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

14 program shall not exceed an amount equal to the 

15 lesser of— 

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

17 of the eligible entity during the most recent fis18 cal year; and 

19 ‘‘(B) $16,000,000. 

20 ‘‘(2) NO REDUCTION OF PROFESSIONAL PER21 FORMERS.—An eligible entity may not use trainees, 

22 interns, or other similar positions to displace, sub23 stitute for, supplant, or otherwise replace profes24 sional performers and related or supporting profes25 sional personnel. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under the pro2 gram, the Secretary may give priority to— 

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

4 plans to allocate the majority of the grant funds for 

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

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

7 serves as the primary theatrical venue for a geo8 graphical region. 

9 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

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

11 more than 1 percent of funds made available to 

12 carry out the program to provide technical assist13 ance to eligible entities requiring assistance navi14 gating the Federal grants process. 

15 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing technical assist16 ance under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give 

17 priority to eligible entities that have not previously 

18 received a Federal grant. 

19 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

21 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the pro22 gram $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

23 through 2028. 

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

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


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1 not less than 50 percent shall be reserved for eligible 

2 entities that primarily produce theater.’’. 

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

4 contained in section 1(b) of the Public Works and Eco5 nomic Development Act of 1965 (Public Law 89–136; 79 

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

7 by inserting after the item relating to section 207 the fol8 lowing: 

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

9 SEC. 3. STUDY ON SUSTAINING THE NONPROFIT ARTS SEC10 TOR. 

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

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

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

14 Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, the 

15 Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Human16 ities, and the Director of the Institute of Museum and Li17 brary Services, shall conduct a study on Federal support 

18 for the nonprofit arts sectors. 

19 (b) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under sub20 section (a), the President’s Committee on the Arts and 

21 the Humanities shall consider, and include recommenda22 tions regarding, the steps the Federal Government can 

23 take to sustain the nonprofit arts sector and bolster the 

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1 nesses, and communities, including rural and underserved 

2 communities. 

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

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

5 Arts and the Humanities shall solicit input from stake6 holders, including artists, nonprofit arts organizations and 

7 employees of nonprofit arts organizations, small busi8 nesses, organized labor organizations representing workers 

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

10 governments. 

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

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

13 the Arts and the Humanities shall— 

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

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

16 (2) make the report publicly available. 

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

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

19 section. 

Æ 


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