AMERICAN THEATRE: As actual forest fires rage in California, there’s been a metaphorical blaze sweeping across the states arts communities, for reasons to be explained below, and State Senate Bill 1116 is the second attempt in two years to send in a fire brigade to save some buildings where people make art and attract audiences who, consequentially, contribute to local and regional economies. The prior attempt, Senate Bill 805, made it through the State Assembly and Senate only to be vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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It is always great to see something get authored that supports the arts and especially ones that have an awareness for how much they can benefit the community and the economy. I grew up in Claremont, California, which is in Senator Portantino’s district and I am familiar with him and have had the pleasure of voting for him. The article makes several extremely valid points that all of these small not for profit arts organizations suffered greatly during the COVID pandemic years, but these same arts organizations in California that were already struggling everywhere have the added issue of Assembly Bill 5 that required almost all workers to be employees and not independent contractors. It is great that AEA is supporting the bill so it can get national attention and that will hopefully put some pressure on Governor Newsom to sign it into law. Newsom is usually very progressive so it would be odd for him to not sign it.
As the theater world has slowly begun to go under from underfunding, COVID-19, and other economic detriments, it makes me really question what the people in our government actually care about. Passing a bill to give money to local artists and theaters is not socialism. It is keeping a vital portion of society alive while the world is having its own issues. There are some points in time where you have to be a backup for a foundation that can’t uphold itself at that point in time. The government does it all the time with banks. Why is it different from theater and the arts? Arguably, theater and the arts are the more important ones to uphold. They are the foundation for expression and emotion. Without it, the world would be very grey and boring. When the government doesn’t want to support the arts, it makes me think that they actually don’t care about the wellbeing of their people.
The first thing that is surprising is that California is ranked 24th in arts funding in the country and that Minnesota is ranked first with a net per capita investment of 13 times that of California. I’m obviously pro spending public money on the arts, which I think is an obvious problem that people view tax breaks and handouts to businesses as okay, but funding the arts is “socialism.” I think the big problem is that people have to write laws to make people do the right thing and people aren’t often willing to do the right thing without being outright forced. The article mentioned that (anecdotally) the cost of a small production had quadrupled since the pandemic due to a law causing less people to be able to be classified as contractors and the costs associated with the pandemic. I’m hoping that the specific COVID-19 related costs subside soon.
This is a really interesting read. I think that it is great to see CA advocate for better wages adn benefits for workers through AB5. AB5 is an interesting bill and I see how it negatively impacts theatres initially as it requires more payments into healthcare, pension, and other benefits. I think it is great that to help theatres adjust to the bill and be sustainable SB1116 would help cover the new expenses to the company. Instead of fighting the AB5 bill and showing that theatres want to pay people less than they are worth and less benefits, they are asking for assistance to be able to pay the full amount and benefits people deserve. I think it is crucial for the government to support companies with the changes the government are forcing them to comply with, especially when it comes to money as many do not have the ability to quickly change budgets/profits to cover the change for a few years. I hope this goes through as it would help the small theatres in that state.
As someone who was in California and learning from professionals in the industry when AB5 was enacted, I know firsthand just how much panic and uncertainty came with the decision. While I certainly agree with the premise of the bill, being to ensure that people are paid an adequate wage to live by and receive the benefits that many traditional workers are granted in their sectors, trying to implement that with no sort of support or backing to smaller theatres was a mistake. And, just like the article said, not doing this previously was (largely) not done out of malicious intent, but because there wasn't enough cash to go around. I'm extremely hopeful that this new bill can be signed into law, because it will go a long way to help the theatre industry, especially hard hit right now in California with the lasting effects of COVID and the insanely high costs of doing business right now thanks to rising inflation, to recover and thrive.
I am very in support of this bill, as well meaning regulations such as the one that caused this issue often end up stifling the arts because it is historically very underfunded. However, I do worry about the effects that this bill will have if it is a temporary measure. Although a temporary measure does provide some help to the struggling theatres who need it, it does not create lasting legislation for a permanent change. I do not think the original bill should be repealed because it still provides some legal backing that non-drama workers need in order to have liveable working conditions. To be honest, I am not entirely sure that the bill will get passed. It does set aside a pretty hefty sum for only the arts, which is often not where the taxpayers want to see their money being sent. I really hope Newsom sees through that slight issue and passes it because it really is vital to us theater people.
I hope that SB1116 gets signed and that smaller theaters and arts organizations are able to continue functioning. I remember all the conversation that was happening around AB5 and how it was going to affect theatres, especially smaller ones, and the conversation of how smaller organizations were going to be able to stay open. I have a friend who was hired onto a small arts organization to help navigate the changes caused by Covid and by AB5. She works for an organization that is similar to a Renaissance fair, and most of their employees were independent contractors prior to AB5. The past two years she has been involved in on boarding over 1000 people, some of whom travel constantly for work and are hard to get ahold of. I think AB5 was a good step towards having artists paid a living wage, but I think SB1116 will do both this while also helping smaller organizations stay open.
Is it socialism to invest in the arts in your community and make sure that your home has a wide variety of theater to explore? Sure, why not. It’s California and its theater, who is being deterred by calling something socialism. At the start of this article, I thought this was going to be a bill about re-reclassifying workers for small theaters as independent contractors and I was ready to go off about how its not okay to pay people below a living wage, and I am glad its not. Lets be honest, small theater is a profitable sector. It cannot subsist on its own and pay a fair wage, and that’s okay. We as a society can (and should) acknowledge the value of theater, just like we acknowledge the value of public education, and subsidize it accordingly. Hopefully, Newsom can see the value in a bill such as this and the value in having a thriving arts scene that is not limited to the larger houses that can afford to pay for its employees without government support.
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