Cornyn Hosts SBA, Texas Entertainment Venues for Update on New Pandemic Relief

Yesterday I joined a video conference call with Texas’ live entertainment venues hosted by Governor Abbott’s Economic Development & Tourism Office of Small Business Assistance and the Texas Music Office to discuss the new Small Business Administration (SBA) Shuttered Venue Operators Grant created by my bipartisan Save Our Stages Act.  I shared an overview of the program and why I, as an Austinite and Texan, has advocated for the music and live entertainment industry in Congress.  Tim Jeffcoat, Houston District Director of SBA, explained the more technical aspects of the grant program for the more than 500 live venue operators on the call.  Both Tim Jeffcoat and I also answered questions on the call.

I live in Austin, my Austin office is on 6^th Street, and the Live Music Capital of the World has been quiet for nearly a year now. Not only venues are affected – wait staff, food suppliers, t-shirt printing businesses, and local hotels are all suffering from the effects of pandemic-related closures. The ‘supply chain’ of live music is vast.  It is my hope that grants from Save Our Stages will help preserve the entertainment industry, which puts food on the table for thousands of Texans and creates live music memories for countless more.

Statements of support from Texans like Robert Earl Keene, Josh Abbott, and owners of the Nutty Brown Amphitheatre in Austin, the Kessler Theater in Dallas, and Floore’s Country Store in San Antonio for my legislation can be found here.

My website has additional resources for Texans during the coronavirus outbreak here.