Mayor London Breed on Thursday said she plans to immediately implement a number of proposals from a new report on San Francisco’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including a universal basic income (UBI) program that will provide $1,000 a month for local artists.

As we plan for a healthy return, getting people out of their houses and spending money again will be key to jumpstarting the economy (70% of the U.S. economy is consumer spending). This is what the arts do. They create social and economic opportunities—attending a festival, visiting a museum, going to the theater, seeing a concert—and every time that attendee will spend an average of $31.47 beyond the ticket cost. And while this may look different in the future, this provides income to local businesses, energizes our downtowns, promotes visitation to different neighborhoods, and puts people to work. Total event-related spending nationally in 2015 was $103 billion and supported more than two million jobs!

This study estimates the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the creative economy, which is comprised of industries such as film, advertising, and fashion as well as creative occupations such as musicians, artists, performers, and designers. We estimate losses in sales of goods and services, employment, and earnings for creative industries and creative occupations at the national, state, and metropolitan levels over the period of April 1 through July 31, 2020.

“The most critical challenge is facing those who facilitate, promote, and perform in live events,’ Seman said. ‘The longer that events are prohibited from taking place with substantial audiences, the bigger the threat that the infrastructure supporting these events, (such as) promoters, sound engineers, venues, musicians, dancers, directors, etc., will disappear.”

According to the motion, the County cannot afford the cultural and economic consequences of allowing community arts organizations to close their doors. As a critical part of the region’s economy, demonstrated by several years of substantial growth of the creative sector, and as a provider of arts and culture programs to underserved communities, these organizations are a key part of the solution to the current crises facing residents of the County.

One of the appropriations in Tuesday’s motion sets aside $135M of the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund for small business assistance programs, of which $10M will go to the Department of Arts and Culture to provide grants to Los Angeles County 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organizations suffering from business interruption due to COVID-19-related business closures. To maximize reach and efficiency, funds will go to nonprofit arts organizations that are recipients of the Department of Arts and Culture’s Organizational Grant Program (OGP), as well as other arts nonprofits that are grantees of local municipal arts agencies within the County. To promote equity, priority will be given to organizations with an operating budget of $15M or less, in alignment with the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs’ small business definition. This will ensure that small and mid-sized arts organizations, which are often in service of the County’s most vulnerable communities, are reached and supported.

The Inspector General published data showing how much each state was given from the federal government and how much each state has spent as of June 30th. While the report doesn’t reflect data for the month of July yet, it shows a stark picture of funds being hoarded and not reaching local and rural communities.

Congress is also under immense pressure to reach a deal quickly, as millions of Americans will see their supplemental federal unemployment assistance benefits expire this week. But the tone from Democrats after Monday’s meeting indicated an agreement is unlikely anytime soon, with Schumer calling the GOP plan “pathetic” and Pelosi saying the package “isn’t serious.”