Tell the Governor and Your State Reps: Help Secure Funding for the Arts! Stand up for SFBATCO
Call the Governor
Call your State Senator.
Call ONE of the Assemblymembers. Note: only one of these Assemblymembers represents you. Find out which one here.
Hate the phone? Resistbot is your friend. If you use Resistbot or write an email to your elected officials, make sure to use your own words. Copy-pasted emails are discounted by Congressional staff. In-depth, personal stories are most effective.
Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
I’ve just learned that Gavin Newsom is proposing to cut all of the funding for the performing arts equitable payroll fund and it absolutely cannot happen
Live theatre is deeply struggling post-pandemic; over 25% of Bay Area theaters have closed since 2020
This particular grant program received such an overwhelming response that it was oversubscribed in the first 24 hours which is very telling regarding the state of funding for the arts
Applicants, including organizations making a positive impact in my own community, spent a great deal of time preparing and submitting the application which are now under review and we’re expecting to hear updates at any time
Receiving these funds would be transformative for every organization who applied
And we will lose more organizations if these funds don’t come through
The recent NEA cuts and upheaval are already creating so much chaos, more cuts will only add to that
The existing dollars can’t begin to fund all of the requests, but to fund none of them is unimaginable
Besides the above ask, here some additional actions you can take:
Email the CA State budget committee at AsmBudget@asm.ca.gov and c/c the consultant of the subcommittee, Genevieve McCloy at genevieve.mccloy@asm.ca.gov.
Call the budget committee’s office at (916) 319-2099.
Call your legislator’s office. You can find your legislator here: https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
Call the Governor’s office at (916) 445-2841
Background
Email and phone call templates can be found here - https://www.sfbatco.org/blog-page/save-ca-arts-funding
This information is taken directly from Adam Maggio at SFBATCO:
Governor Newsom’s May budget revision proposes cutting all $11.5 million from the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund (PAEPF), a vital program created by SB 1116 to support small nonprofit arts organizations in complying with AB-5. SB 1116 was introduced to address the disproportionate burden AB-5 placed on arts organizations—while massive corporations like Uber and Lyft poured millions into Prop 22 to avoid the law entirely, nonprofits like SFBATCO were left to absorb the full impact.
SFBATCO has had to dramatically restructure their operations to comply, taking on significant new payroll costs to ensure artists and arts workers could be hired legally. To provide some context: in 2024, SFBATCO had only 8 year-round staff members. However, they added 97 more temporary employees to payroll over the course of the year for their productions and programs. This is not only a massive administrative burden; it is extremely expensive.
The PAEPF was supposed to be a remedy. Now the rug is being pulled out from under them—and it's a clear example of how our government can fail those without corporate power. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. SFBATCO spent weeks applying for PAEPF support and qualified for over $150,000—funds that would directly support jobs for artists, technicians, and staff. If the fund is eliminated, they’lll be forced to make some very difficult decisions. And considering all of the other Bay Area organizations that qualify for PAEPF funding, the result could be hundreds of lost jobs in the sector.