Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Weekly Advocacy Alert, December 9: Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer Joins Field Wide Call This Week! Calling on You to Testify on Behalf of Dance Education!

By Dance/NYC

Weekly Advocacy Alert, December 9:
Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer Joins Field Wide Call This Week!

Calling on You to Testify on Behalf of Dance Education!

Dance/NYC hosts weekly dance field-wide calls to address our questions, needs, and plans for the future as a field. Calls occur every Thursday, 4:00 pm. – 5:00 p.m. Register. This week we need large attendance to make our case to Council Member Van Bramer on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the dance sector and relief that is desperately needed! Make your voice heard!

Testify at Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Relations: The Impact of COVID-19 on Art and Cultural Educational Programming in New York City on Tuesday, December 15 at 10AM. Registration is due at least 24 hours in advance of zoom hearing. Written testimony may be submitted here up to 72 hours after the hearing has been adjourned. Use this template from Arts in Education Roundtable to help draft written testimony.

FEDERAL

1. Use Dance/USA’s lame-duck session action alert for you to urge Congress to act immediately to provide more relief. It only takes 2-3 minutes and your messages will automatically go to your appropriate Congressional delegation.

2. A bipartisan collection of Senators and Representatives announced a temporary package of COVID relief proposals. The estimated cost of the package is $908 billion. The COVID Emergency Relief Framework would be effective from December 1, through March 31, 2021. This includes PPP extension and Save Our Stages Act legislation.

3. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Trump v. New York, concerning the validity of the President’s directive to subtract the number of undocumented immigrants from the official 2020 Census count. Three courts have rejected this, ruling that the Constitution requires apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives based on the “whole number of persons in each State.”

4. A federal judge in lawsuit Batalla Vidal v. Wolf ordered the Trump administration to restore the DACA program to its original 2012 form. For more information see National Immigration Law Center Website or The New York Times article. All eligible individuals are encouraged to consult with an immigration attorney to apply or renew their DACA immediately. Learn more at NYDACA.org & DACAClassAction.org.

5. A federal judge denied the SBA’s request to postpone the release of PPP and EIDL borrower information including the disclosure of the name, address, and precise loan amount for every nonprofit or business that received loans.

6. The U.S. Department of Education has extended federal student loan relief until January 31. Look for the Biden-Harris Administration to quickly act after its inauguration to extend relief further into 2021.

NEW YORK STATE

1. Governor Cuomo stated that New York State will be implementing new emergency actions reported by The New York Times. He lays out a 5-step plan for the second wave of coronavirus. Cuomo also stated New York will receive 170,000 coronavirus vaccinations by December 15 with the first doses going to nursing home residents and health care workers.

2. Governor Cuomo pledged to make changes to the state’s rent relief program that thus far has distributed just $40 million of the $100 million available to help struggling tenants Gothamist reports.

3. Sign on to #FundExcludedWorkers. This legislation is to tax billionaires to create emergency income, including retroactive payments for all excluded New Yorkers. Organizations can sign on here. Individuals can sign on here.

NEW YORK CITY

1. The Open Culture bill 2068-A has been scheduled for a vote in the City Council this Thursday, December 10. Use #OpenCultureNYC on social media to share stories of how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting the dance sector and to engage your representatives to tell them to pass the Open Culture Bill.

2. City Council Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo Enacted Int 1967-2020 which would require the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs to publish information for art and cultural institutions affected by COVID-19 on its website.

3. Attend “Supporting NYC's Immigrant Arts Ecosystem in a Time of Crisis,” a Center for an Urban Future (CUF) virtual policy conversation on Friday, December 11th from 10am to noon. Registration is required. Please RSVP via this link.

4. Attend New Art Dealers Alliance Commercial Rent Stabilization Town Hall tonight at 7pm! It will focus on Commercial Rent Stabilization Bill #1796. This bill would reduce unfair rent hikes by setting up a rent guidelines board to regulate commercial rent increase across the city. Registration is required. Please RSVP via this link.

5. Dance/NYC has been working with Nonprofit New York and coalition partners advocating to raise the threshold as a part of the A Place at the Table campaign. The campaign seeks to reduce barriers for nonprofits to engage in legislative advocacy. We need your support! Nonprofits can sign on as a supporter of Int. 2148-2020 to let New York City know you support nonprofit advocacy!

SIGN ON HERE

6. COVID-19 Updates

a. The statewide positivity rate excluding these areas was 4.79%.
b. State COVID zone restrictions remain in effect in certain parts of the city. To find out where the zones are and to see what restrictions apply to each zone, please visit www.nyc.gov/covidzone.
c. Download the COVID Alert NY app today!
d. Remember to follow the “core four”—wear a mask, wash your hands, practice social distancing, stay home if you’re sick—and get tested! For information on free testing, personal protective equipment and more, visit the NYC Mayor's Office Coronavirus page.

7. Engaging in a community action in support of dance workers? Submit to be listed on the #ArtistsAreNecessaryWorkers Campaign Activations page. Visit the page for events, actions, and platforms that are independently led by the NYC dance community.

8. For the ongoing Coronavirus Dance Impact Study, Dance/NYC is tracking studio & company closures to gain a better understanding of the financial impact the pandemic is taking on the dance sector. This data will be used to better document this historic time and to be able to advocate for aid to policy makers. Please email any closures that you know of in the dance community to research@dance.nyc. You do not need to be in charge of the organization to send a notification as Dance/NYC works to compile a list of closures.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES