Advocacy Work Continues!

March 11, 2021

Please continue to speak up to let your members of Congress know the ways in which COVID relief is supporting your orchestra and your community. While much attention has been given to COVID relief legislation, there are other bills that will need support in the coming weeks and months as well. 

Just yesterday, Senators Lankford (R-OK), Coons (D-DE), Lee (R-UT), Shaheen (D-NH), Scott (R-SC), Klobuchar (D-MN), Collins (R-ME), and Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced the bipartisan Universal Giving Pandemic Response and Recovery Act (S. 618) to expand and extend the current non-itemizer deduction for charitable giving. Representatives Pappas (D-NH-1) and Walorski (R-IN-2) introduced a companion measure in the House, H.R. 1704. While the December COVID relief package had extended the $300 charitable deduction for 2021, this measure would allow taxpayers who do not itemize to take a deduction for charitable gifts valued at up to one-third of the standard deduction (around $4,000 for an individual filer and $8,000 for married joint filers) for tax years 2021 and 2022. In the months ahead, Congress will be turning its attention to a recovery package, which could include this and other essential provisions. 

As we have seen over the last year, advocacy is a year-round effort. The League’s 2021 Calendar of Opportunities can help your orchestra advocates identify opportune moments to connect with federally elected officials and connect to national events, like Music in Our Schools Month throughout March. Please keep us informed about your interactions so we can build upon them in our DC-based advocacy!