rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/tell-senate-to-extend-pandemic-unemployment-compensation?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-tell-senate-to-extend-pandemic-unemployment-compensation' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> ​Actors' Equity Association https://actionnetwork.org/groups/actors-equity https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg Theatres across the country remain closed, and some have already announced that they won't reopen before 2021. For Actors' Equity members like Jennifer, this timeline creates new fears. Jennifer and her husband are both unionized workers in Broadway theater, and she shared her story with members of the House of Representatives in the push to pass the HEROES Act. "Like many who work in the arts, we book jobs months, sometimes years in advance to manage our income and ensure we maintain health care. When the pandemic forced theaters to close, within 24 hours we both lost not only all our current income, but also close to $110,000 in income we were counting on for the rest of the year. There is no end in sight right now. " Thanks to the $600 per week Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) from the CARES Act, passed in late March, Jennifer and her husband have been able to pay their bills and provide for their toddler. But when PUC expires at the end of June, they're not sure what will happen. "Rents are high. Diapers are expensive. Utility bills are creeping up. Our mobile phones and internet costs are even more necessary as we search for new jobs and, in my husband’s case, train for a career change … PUC is the only thing keeping our heads above water now." The House has already passed the HEROES Act, which includes a renewal for PUC. We need Actors’ Equity members and supporters to contact their Senators and tell them to extend Pandemic Unemployment Compensation through the end of the year. Arts workers like Jennifer will be among the last to return to return to work. Sustaining our entertainment sector and the workers who power it is essential to the stability of communities across the country. The arts generate an economic halo effect, boosting local communities large and small. Extending PUC will ensure that arts workers are ready to return to work when it is safe for their employers to reopen. Send a letter to your Senators today and urge them to act now! https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-senate-to-extend-pandemic-unemployment-compensation