(via CNBC)

Congress seems to be reaching some sort of deal with their latest, vastly overdue COVID-19 relief bill with $900 billion budgeted to cover unemployment insurance, rental assistance, vaccine distribution, etc. Part of that proposed bill, which Congress is looking to vote on tonight, will be $15 billion that will go to serve as relief for movie theaters, live venues (we’re hoping that means comedy venues as well), and cultural institutions such as museums.

The specific breakdown of where and how that will be distributed or how many venues (or even which specific venues) might get this relief funding will have to be seen as Senate and House leaders have just agreed on it. Based off of the fact that latest round of direct payments to Americans has shrunk from $1200 to $600 in this bill, our guess is that it’ll be a minimal amount of relief and it might not be enough for some venues to stay afloat as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out over the next several months. In the meantime, we’ll just have to keep doing direct relief/mutual aid for venues via GoFundMe or benefit shows.