As a member of Theatre Bay Area, I received this email Friday night.  It is essential that anyone affiliated with a California (Live) Theater to take immediate action.  

Theatre Bay Area has just learned that a bill is going before the California legislature on Monday that will impose a 7.5% sales tax on tickets to live theatre productions.

This bill does not include a sales tax on any other forms of entertainment, including opera, concerts or sporting events.

At a time when theatres are already struggling with cuts to their funding, this bill will have an extremely negative effect on theatre around the state.

In order to stop this bill from being passed, we need you to call or email Assemblyman Mike Gatto, who introduced the bill, and the 10 members of the Committee for Revenue and Taxation that are voting on the bill Monday.

To contact Assemblyman Mike Gatto, call Aaron Moreno, who is staffing the bill, at (916) 319-2043, or email aaron.moreno@asm.ca.gov.

To contact the 10 members of the Committee, click here.

For a sample email to send that explains how AB 2540 will hurt the theatre community, go here.

To read the bill, go here (see "Specified Services #20).

The time to act is right now before this bill passes.

Thanks!

All the Best,
Andy

andy@andyaccioli.com