04/13/2026
Thank you to the over 300 organizations that signed on to our Coalition Letter requesting $40M to reinstate the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund (PAEPF). This budget request will be heard in committee next Thursday between 10:30 and 11:30 am. Check this page https://sbud.senate.ca.gov/ for updates.
The PAEPF is a smart, targeted investment to strengthen California's small nonprofit performing arts organizations (budgets under $2 million) by helping them meet payroll. The program's inaugural funding round distributed $11,621,892 in grants to 100 small nonprofit performing arts organizations statewide. These grants were awarded on a first-come, first-served basis from a total of 413 applications, which collectively requested $40,789,646 in funding. The application portal had to close within days due to oversubscription, demonstrating the scale of unmet need.
If you represent an organization, association, corporation, or alliance, and would like to sign-on to our Coalition letter, there is still time! Visit https://www.caartsadvocates.org/paepf-40m to view the Coalition letter and add your organization.
Stay tuned for upcoming Action Alerts as we continue through the budget request process. Your support is deeply appreciated.
Senators Susan Rubio, Ben Allen, Maria Elena Durazo, Lena Gonzalez, and Sasha Renee Perez and Assemblymembers Matt Haney, Josh Lowenthal, Buffy Wicks, Catherine Stefani, Rick Chavez Zbur, Tri Ta, Ash Kalra, and Isaac Bryan
