CLEAR LAKE, Iowa - It's hard to find someone that hasn't been affected by the pandemic in some way.

One of those is live music, and with many small independent venues across the country facing a permanent shutdown, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is introducing the 'Save Our Stages Act' to help these venues

If the act passes, it would allocate $10 billion in grants for these smaller venues, as well as promoters, producers and talent representatives. The money would be able to go towards things like rent, utilities, mortgage payments, PPE, contractor payments, maintenance, administrative costs, taxes, operating leases, and capital expenditures related to meeting state, local, or federal social distancing guidelines.

Senator Klobuchar believes in supporting these venues, as they are expected to be among the last businesses to completely reopen. 

"90% of these venues across the country believe they are going to have to shut down if we don't give them some help in the short term to keep them going. They can reopen again and artists will have places to play, but not if they don't have anything going."

In addition, she believes it's important to support them because of their impact on the local economy.

"So much of it, it's the people that work there, yes. But it's also the business that's generated at restaurants and bars. It's the idea that for some communities, that's it. They've got one or two music venues and people come from the area around it to see acts there."

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is supporting the act; in a statement regarding the act, NIVA points to a Chicago study that found that for every $1 spent on a ticket at a local venue, $12 of economic activity was generated for area businesses like restaurants, retailers, and hotels.