LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Christmas came two days late for many local live entertainment venue owners when President Donald Trump reversed course and signed the $900 billion stimulus bill that he had criticized just days earlier.
"Not knowing if this bill would pass - it really truthfully was our last hope," Billy Hardison, the owner and operator of Headliners Music Hall and Production Simple Concerts, said.
"When Trump held out at first signing that bill, oh my gosh, we were like, 'What are you doing, man?'" Micah McGowan, the owner of Play Louisville, said.
While the focus on the stimulus package has been on the $600 stimulus payments to Americans, there were many other provisions in the bill that many had been watching. Among those was $15 billion allotted for independent entertainment venues like Headliners and Play Louisville, many of which have been closed since March when the coronavirus pandemic first shut them down.
"This is the life support," Hardison said. "This is not the make-us-whole bill. This is just to get us through to where we can safely operate."
Hardison and many others working in the live entertainment industry joined the National Independent Venue Association to lobby Congress to pass the Save Our Stages Act after being left out of earlier stimulus packages. The Save Our Stages Act will provide eligible venues 47 percent of what they earned in 2019.
To qualify, venues must be independently owned and have lost at least 25 percent of their annual revenue. Venues that have lost more than 90 percent, like Play Louisville, will be able to apply in the first two weeks after the bill becomes law.
After that period, venues that have lost more than 70 percent of its revenue, including Headliners Music Hall, will be able to apply.
According to Hardison, this funding is needed for many venues as industry projections show many venues will not be able to turn a profit until late November. With social distancing guidelines still in place, Headliners can only seat 100 guests in a space that normally has a 700-person capacity.
"We can't operate and turn any kind of profit until we're at full capacity," he said. "If a sold-out show is 100 people, we lose money. It's better to keep the door locked."
Hardison and McGowan both said the money they receive from the stimulus package will go towards paying bills like mortgage and utilities. They also plan on spending the money to pay their employees, many who have not worked since the pandemic hit.
"Now we'll be able to bring back more employees that maybe we don't necessarily need at the time to help re-employ people sooner," McGowan said.