Orlando music venues are still waiting on federal aid after months of bureaucratic gridlock It’s been nearly two months since applications were first due for lifesaving grants for shuttered music venues and concert halls, and of $16 billion available from the Small Business Association for these venues, only the monetary equivalent of a trickle of water in a desert has been awarded. This ride has been a very frustrating one for local venue owners, music promoters and performing arts organizations, who have yet to see tangible economic relief from the SBAadministered Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program created by the American Rescue Plan six months ago. Of nearly 14,000 application submitted by independent venue owners and concert promoters from around the country, only just over 400 have been approved as of last week. (Around half haven’t even been looked at yet.) The pace seems a bit lackadaisical for what is intended as emergency relief. “We remain dismayed that the life raft given to our industry by Congress back in December has yet to be implemented,” said Ken Stein, president and CEO of the League of Historic American Theatres, in a statement. “The funds are there. They have been there for six months. They need to be disbursed.” The SVOG program has been plagued by internal issues from the jump. SBA has acknowledged the delays in processing on their end to stakeholders. And that’s not even taking into account the online system crash in early April, which took down the application portal for weeks and left many frustrated applicants to start the complicated application process again from square one. Congress appears to be listening, at the very least. This week, U.S. Rep Val Demings from Orlando joined a bipartisan group of representatives in sending a letter to the SBA urging quick action in disbursing funds under SVOG. “We are hearing from venue operators who are days away from closing their doors if these funds are not sent soon. These small businesses not only provide good jobs and contribute economically to our local communities, they contribute to the spirit and local culture as well. We must act now,” read the letter. Despite a self-imposed June 9 deadline to start disbursing funds to businesses most grievously impacted by the pandemic and resulting closures, venues and promoters have been left to twist in the wind again, with little in the way of concrete action from SBA. “We’ve received nothing. The SBA has missed their own deadlines. Businesses have been struggling for 15 months. The funding was passed six months ago. This is inexcusable,” a regional Florida promoter told Orlando Weekly on condition of anonymity. “Belated promises to actually do the job they were tasked with six months ago are not a solution to anything.” — Matthew Moyer
¶ The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week updated their guidance on the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, calling it a “variant of concern,” meaning scientists believe there is evidence of increased transmissibility and increased disease severity. Previously they had labeled Delta a “variant of interest.” Gov. Ron DeSantis downplayed the potential impact it could have on the state, saying of the CDC guidance, “I think it gets put out there in ways designed to frighten people.” The Delta variant was first identified in India and was designated as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization on May 10. It now accounts for the majority of the coronavirus cases in the U.K., leading Prime Minister Boris Johnson to delay by four weeks the lifting of England’s lockdown restrictions. The variant is primarily spread through adolescents and children, which contradicts DeSantis’ repeated statements during the pandemic that children are not “vectors” or responsible for the spread of the virus. @Hillary Fenner DeSantis needs to stop acting like he is an infectious disease expert. @Minna Alstein I have no confidence in him as a leader. He takes way too many chances with Floridians. He wants cruise ships entering our ports not requiring vaccinations. Now he isn’t concerned with the variants. He does not deserve our trust. @Tracy Carpenter “Some of you may die ... but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” @Jason Darrough The messaging from the CDC is that there is risk that this Delta variant becomes the dominant strain in the US. The ask is that people continue in vaccination so we mitigate that risk. No need to be dismissive or defiant. A normal governor would stay in their lane and support that messaging as it is a reasonable request. … It’s time to stop politicizing this virus. @Dan Kaye He didn’t care about the virus in any capacity as long as he’s personally protected. @Mindy Hunter Well the good news, if there is any, of this POS being our governor is that we now know who all the stupid are as they are loud and proud. @Ron Howland I wonder why it’s so hard to find anyone who’s got sick or died? I know a couple people who said the doctor said they had it, but all they really had was the flu and they got over it in about a week or two, and some of these people are the old “ready to die anyway” type, and I ask a lot of people.
Checkup: Will the Florida GOP’s war on Obamcare ever end? After 11 years of being on the front lines of the battle against Obamacare, will last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling finally end Florida’s fierce resistance to the federal health care law? It may seem like ancient history now, but former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum led the charge in the initial major challenge to the Affordable Care Act, filing the first lawsuit after then-President Barack Obama signed the landmark legislation. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 preserved much of the law. But the challenge resulted in an important concession, with the court holding that the government could not withhold federal Medicaid funds from states that didn’t expand Medicaid to low-income childless adults. To date, 12 states, including Florida, have not expanded Medicaid. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi added Florida to a separate challenge to Obamacare led by Texas. After taking office in early 2019, Attorney General Ashley Moody decided to keep Florida a part of the challenge, which ultimately was rejected Thursday in a 7-2 ruling by the high court. Moody said in a statement that her office would “respect” the ruling but vowed to continue to fight against “any federal overreach.” Scott’s office also weighed in and asserted that Obamacare was a failure. Democrats during this year’s legislative session repeatedly called for expanding Medicaid to low-income childless adults, but the issue never received consideration from Republicans who control the House, Senate and governor’s office. — Christine Sexton, NSF orlandoweekly.com
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JUNE 23-29, 2021 ● ORLANDO WEEKLY
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