2020 Adopted Resolutions

Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment, and Sports

Staff Contact: Tom McClimon (tmcclimon@usmayors.org)




National Arts and Humanities Month - October 2020


1WHEREAS, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of the arts and humanities has never been more important to inspire, heal, and connect us as a nation; and
2WHEREAS, the nation’s 95,000 nonprofit arts organizations, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the nation’s 4,500 local arts agencies, and the arts and humanities councils of the 50 states and the six U.S. jurisdictions, have regularly issued official proclamations on an annual basis designating October as National Arts and Humanities Month; and
3WHEREAS, the arts and humanities embody much of the accumulated wisdom, intellect, and imagination of humankind; and
4WHEREAS, the arts and humanities enhance and enrich the lives of every American; and
5WHEREAS, the arts and humanities play a unique role in the lives of our families, our communities, and our country; and
6WHEREAS, cities and states — through their local and state arts agencies and representing thousands of cultural organizations — have celebrated the value and importance of culture in the lives of Americans and the health of thriving communities during National Arts and Humanities Month for several years; and
7WHEREAS, the humanities help diverse communities across the United States explore their history and culture with the support and partnership of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the 55 state and territorial humanities councils, and local educational and cultural institutions; and
8WHEREAS, the arts and culture industry also strengthens our economy by generating $166.3 billion in total economic activity annually, $27.5 billion in government revenue, and by supporting the full-time equivalent of 5 million jobs; and
9WHEREAS, the creative economy drives tourism and commerce, supports American workers, and makes up 4.5% of the annual GDP, proposed federal legislation titled The CREATE Act (S. 650 and H.R. 1519) and The PLACE Act (S. 3232) would support the economic development of the creative economy,
10NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that I/we [name and title of elected official/body/or organization] do hereby proclaim October as National Arts and Humanities Month in [name of community/state] and call upon our community members to celebrate and promote the arts and culture in our nation and to specifically encourage the greater participation by those said community members in taking action for the arts and humanities in their towns and cities.



Importance of Local Arts Agencies During a Crisis


1WHEREAS, local arts agencies—arts councils, arts commissions, cultural affairs departments—are an essential tool for mayors and community leaders as they rebuild their economies and promote social cohesion. The nation’s 4,500 local arts agencies (LAAs) support, present, and promote the dynamic value of the arts; and
2WHEREAS, the arts support a robust jobs sector. Arts and culture is an $878 billion industry in the U.S. (nonprofit, commercial, education)—a larger share of the nation’s economy (4.5%) than transportation, tourism, and agriculture (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis). The nonprofit arts industry alone generates $166.3 billion in economic activity annually—spending by organizations and their audiences—which supports 4.6 million jobs and generates $27.5 billion in government revenue. 1-in-10 LAAs are based in the city’s economic development agency; and
3WHEREAS, the arts drive commerce to local businesses. 72% of Americans attend arts or cultural events, such as the theater, museum, zoo, or a musical performance. Arts attendees spend $31.47 per person, per event, beyond the cost of admission (meals, retail, and lodging)—vital commerce for local businesses. Nationally, total event-related spending by arts audiences is $103 billion. 49% of LAAs partner with their Chamber of Commerce to strengthen local businesses; and
4WHEREAS, the arts grow the creative economy. 60% of employed adults say that the more creative and innovative they are at their job, the more successful they are in the workplace. Creativity is among the top five applied skills sought by business leaders, per the Conference Board’s Ready to Innovate report (72% say creativity is of high importance when hiring). Engagement in the arts is among the top indicators of creativity. More than one-third of LAAs produce programming that serves the business community (e.g., employee engagement, business volunteers for the arts, artist in residency); and
5WHEREAS, the arts promote tourism. As travel restrictions begin to lift, arts travelers are ideal tourists, staying longer and spending more to seek out authentic cultural experiences. 34% of arts attendees live outside the county in which the arts event takes place; they spend an average of $47.57 apiece. 14% of non-local attendees had a lodging cost and spent $162 per person. 62% of LAAs partner with their Convention and Tourism Bureaus; and
6WHEREAS, the arts unify communities. The arts provide shared experiences in public spaces. 72% of Americans believe “the arts unify our communities regardless of age, race, and ethnicity;” 81% of the population says the arts are a “positive experience in a troubled world;” and 73% agree that the arts “helps me understand other cultures better.” More than one-third of LAAs use the arts to address social equity, racial awareness, or civic engagement; and
7WHEREAS, the arts are a partner in education. 76% of LAAs provide arts education programs or services in the community. Students with an arts education have higher GPAs, standardized test scores, and more college-going as well as lower drop-out rates. These academic benefits are reaped by students regardless of socio-economic status; and
8WHEREAS, the arts improve civic pride. Public art enhances the identity and character of the community and promotes tourism, which attracts and retains new economy workers and businesses. 70% of Americans believe that the “arts improve the image and identity” of their community. 54% of LAAs manage a public art program; and
9WHEREAS, the arts help support the health and well-being of the military. The arts heal the mental, physical, and moral injuries of war for military service members and Veterans as well as aid in their reintegration into the community. Creative arts therapies are consistently ranked in the top four (out of 40) interventions and treatments for effectiveness. 26% of LAAs engage with military or Veteran constituencies in their community; and
10WHEREAS, the arts promote healthy communities. 21% of LAAs use the arts to address physical and mental health issues in their community. Nearly one-half of the nation’s hospitals provide arts programming for patients, families, and staff because of their healing benefits to patients—shorter hospital stays, better pain management, and less medication. 73% of the population feels the arts give them “pure pleasure to experience and participate in.”; and
11WHEREAS, the arts build social cohesion. University of Pennsylvania researchers have demonstrated that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads to higher civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child welfare, and lower poverty rates. 67% of LAAs are delivering artistic content to raise community spirits and morale and strengthen community cohesion during the COVID-19 crisis,
12NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors encourages mayors to include and invest in their local arts agencies in community-wide economic, educational, and social recovery and stimulus efforts coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.



2020 National Party Platform - Arts and Humanities


1WHEREAS, both the Democratic and Republican National Committees adopt national policy platforms every four years at their respective national conventions; and
2WHEREAS, both parties have historically considered and adopted various arts policy positions in their respective national policy platforms; and
3WHEREAS, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe our nation needs to capitalize on the abundance of under-employed creative workers in America to aid in the recovery, unity, and healing of our nation’s communities and economy. As federal efforts are considered to rebuild and grow the nation's economy, we urge targeted federal policies to tap creative workers, nonprofit arts organizations and arts-related businesses to be included in any infrastructure, workforce development, economic, and education efforts; and
4WHEREAS, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the creative economy adds $878 billion a year to our nation's Gross Domestic Product, representing 4.5% of the GDP and 5.1 million jobs and has a growth rate of nearly double the rest of our economy. The national economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry alone boasts $166.3 billion in economic activity annually and generates $27.5 billion in federal, state, and local government revenue. Investing in existing creative enterprises, fostering the growth of new businesses, and investing in creative economy workforce development will help revitalize and strengthen both our national and local economies now and into the future; and
5WHEREAS, the nation's mayors believe in making the arts and humanities accessible to all people, including our most underserved and rural areas. We specifically value arts education and the preservation and expression of our nation’s rich cultural heritage, through the arts and humanities. We know that federal grants to our nation’s finest nonprofit cultural organizations, scholars, and state and local governmental arts agencies help to increase participation, enhance appreciation, and nourish the intellectual and artistic curiosity of our nation,
6NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors, along with Americans for the Arts, urges both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee to include in their national policy platforms the following:
  • Support and target a broad cross-section of federal programs to specifically encourage and include creative workers and creative businesses in any infrastructure, workforce development, economic, and education efforts throughout every federal agency from the Department of Labor to the Department of Defense.
  • Support the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by doubling their funding and indexing them to $1 per person, currently funded at only $162.25 million each (44 cents per person).
  • Support expanding S.T.E.M. education to include the arts to become S.T.E.A.M., as well as reinstating the necessary data collection to continue issuing the nation’s report card in the arts.
  • Support an across-the-board charitable tax deduction so that all taxpayers, including non-itemizers, are encouraged to make donations to their favorite charities; and
  • Support through the Serve America Act provisions, the launch and funding of an AmeriCorps “Artists Corps,” so that artists can be tapped to bring more innovation, creativity, and economic development to address unmet needs in our communities.



Supporting COVID-19 Relief for Arts and Cultural Institutions


1WHEREAS, the pandemic has severely impacted our cities in many ways with crippling impacts on artists and our arts and cultural organizations, who are integral to enabling our communities to survive and thrive economically and emotionally; and
2WHEREAS, this pandemic has resulted in a catastrophic financial impact on individual artists and nonprofit arts organizations, leaving artists and organizations in significant economic hardship and risk of collapse; and
3WHEREAS, the country is at grave risk of permanently losing essential arts and cultural organizational partners that are critical to our national identity and will be essential to accelerate our regional recovery efforts; and
4WHEREAS, our arts and culture organizations connect people to each other and ensure that creativity thrives among a wide breadth of our communities, from seniors to children, and members of our society who are under-resourced, hard to count, and more vulnerable now than they have ever been; and
5WHEREAS, despite all of this, the arts industry and cultural sector is innovating right now to provide online art experiences and distance learning opportunities for people of all ages, helping address social isolation and mental health issues, providing direct health benefits to our communities, but, in many cases, with very limited resources; and
6WHEREAS, as Congress formulates future relief packages, greater relief is needed for the recovery of our arts and culture communities; and
7WHEREAS, this is about far more than the cancellation of performances and exhibitions; this is about individuals—artists and cultural workers alike—whose livelihoods are being threatened if not irrevocably impacted,
8NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors urges Congress and the Administration to provide increased COVID-19 relief and recovery support for the arts and culture sector. Specifically, mayors urge for legislative relief that:
  • Extends the duration of unemployment insurance for artists, arts professionals, and self-employed workers whose income has been negatively impacted by COVID-19 through the calendar year 2022 understanding that many will continue to be out of work as the economy struggles to regain its foothold for the next three years;
  • Adjusts the Economic Stabilization Fund or other mechanisms to implement programs that support all nonprofit employers, regardless of employee headcount, including loan forgiveness and other provisions; and provides clear guidance and maximum flexibility to private lenders to prioritize processing the applications of charitable nonprofits, including arts organizations;
  • Extends SBA and Paycheck Protection Program assistance for artists and arts professionals; provides additional forgivable SBA loans to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, self-employed workers, sole proprietors, and small LLCs; eliminates the 500-employee cap for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations; and provides further flexibility regarding the percentage of loan forgiveness for payroll versus rent;
  • Provides additional funding to the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services;
  • Helps to incentivize contributed support for the arts and culture sector through removing the cap on charitable deductions and maintain the removal of the Adjusted Gross Income limits for the current and future tax seasons;
  • Supports the U.S. creative economy by enabling inclusion of the nonprofits arts and culture industry in federal workforce development opportunities for creative businesses and creative workers;
  • Enacts policies that will ensure rapid processing of the artist visas and consular appointments that are essential to supporting international cultural activity;
  • Enables equitable participation in artistic, educational and cultural online activity through ensuring our most vulnerable population have access to free or low-cost high-speed broadband program offerings.
  • Ensures that dedicated funding is provided to the arts and culture industry to help build out its health and safety infrastructure and that they are included in the legislative discussions related to business disruption insurance and liability; and
9BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, mayors see all too clearly that we cannot survive without connection. More than ever, we must restore the power of the arts and culture using it to connect our residents to each other, to build social cohesion and belonging, and reinstate our shared sense of hope.



Supporting the Safe Reopening of Professional Sports


1WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted incredible harm to our cities, including tremendous loss of life, immeasurable human suffering, and an unprecedented buffering of the economy resulting in historic levels of unemployment and catastrophic business losses; and 
2WHEREAS, in times of crisis and uncertainty, Americans often rally around common cultural touchstones – including professional sports; and    
3WHEREAS, cities across America are home to at least one of the 149 teams that comprise the five major American professional sports leagues; and 
4WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted the playing seasons of Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League, and poses new challenges to the upcoming National Football League season; and
5WHEREAS, professional sport is an important and defining feature of our cities’ cultural and social identities, and is also key to our economic vitality; and
6WHEREAS, in 2020, North America’s professional sports market is estimated at more than $75.7 billion, and was expected to grow at 3.5%; and
7WHEREAS, the professional sports industry in the United States directly employs more than 75,000 Americans at more than 3,000 companies, with an annual payroll of nearly $20 billion; and 
8WHEREAS, the overall live sports and entertainment event industry directly employs over 500,000 Americans; and   
9WHEREAS, in recent years, the five major American professional sports leagues have drawn more than 130 million people in paid attendance annually; and
10WHEREAS, a recent analysis conducted by ESPN found that the interruption of professional sports by the coronavirus pandemic will erase at least $12 billion in revenue and hundreds of thousands of jobs; and
11WHEREAS, in addition to the jobs directly supported by the professional sports industry, professional sporting events and venues add social and economic vibrancy to surrounding neighborhoods and help support jobs in a variety of other industries, including restaurants, cafes, bars, nightlife, hospitality, and travel,
12NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors recognizes the important economic, social, and cultural contributions of professional sports in American life and to our cities; and
13BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors recognizes the unique challenges confronting spectator sports and professional sporting venues during this public health emergency; and
14BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the membership of The United States Conference of Mayors commit to working collaboratively with their respective hometown teams to adapt to and overcome the exceptional challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic; and  
15BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors encourages the federal and state governments to carefully consider the important economic, social, and cultural contributions of professional sports in crafting future economic stimulus legislation,
16BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors supports the safe, healthy, and prudent reopening of professional sports.