With President Biden’s signing of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law, Washington has moved to send fresh aid to governments, citizens, and businesses around the country. At over 240 pages, the bill is voluminous, and includes funding for areas such as agriculture and public health to education and forestry. It is truly a stunningly broad piece of legislation.
Beyond the headlines, what does it mean for members of the zoo and aquarium community? We’re still parsing the details, but the short answer is that there is money out there and AZA organizations need to be going after their share. By looking at key provisions within the bill, and also back at the outcomes of the 2020 stimulus package, we can read the tea leaves about what the opportunities may be. AZA has been working diligently to advocate for this type of funding for zoos and aquariums.
There are several key provisions in the bill that stick out as relevant:
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$20 million for wildlife inspections, investigations, and related activities, and for efforts to address wildlife trafficking (Section 6003.1);
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$30 million for care of captive species (Section 6003.2);
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$200 million for Institute of Museum and Library Services (Section 2023);
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$1.25 billion for the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant Program (Section 5005);
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$7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (Section 5001); and,
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$350 billion for state, territorial, tribal, and local governments (Section 9901).
The most interesting funding allocation is § 9901, which represents $350 billion in funding for state, territorial, tribal, and local governments. That’s a big number, with (relatively) few strings attached, to be allocated at the discretion of officials to support the recovery of their localities. If the CARES Act of 2020 is any precedent, some of it should be available on a case-by-case basis to support zoos and aquariums.
The $1.25 billion allocated by § 5005 will certainly be of interest to zoo and aquarium operators. The 2021 bill allocates these monies in addition to the monies originally designated in the 2020 stimulus, which established a grant program to support shuttered live venues, theaters, museums, and zoos that experienced significant revenue losses.
By now, we’re all extremely familiar with security provided by the Paycheck Protection Program, which via § 5001 will be reinfused with additional funding. The benefits of this program need no introduction or description, and we expect that members of the AZA community will continue to be beneficiaries of this money.
Pursuant to both § 5005 and § 5001, there’s significant interplay between these two sections. For example, funds awarded under § 5005 may be reduced by previously awarded grants via § 5001. We highly recommend that you immediately review these frequently asked questions about the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants (SVOGs).
In § 2023, the bill apportions $200 million in incremental new funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). While IMLS may not be the first acronym that comes to mind when you think of zoos and aquariums, the organization has a rich history of funding projects of AZA member organizations, especially mission-aligned programming like diversity and inclusion initiatives at Denver Zoo, rhino population management with Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, and even the establishment of an exhibit on the Galapagos Islands at Houston Zoo. Since every dollar in your budget is fungible, the ability to win IMLS support in one area may free up critical operating funds in another.
As to the $30 million allocated by § 6003.2, there’s certainly a case to be made that zoos and aquariums might be beneficiaries, however these funds are specifically apportioned for the care of captive species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and there will be a broad range of organizations competing for this (relatively) small allotment of funds. There will likely be more news on this topic in the near future.
That leaves us with § 6003.1. The direct applicability of the $20 million in this section is likely very narrow for AZA member organizations, except in the cases of those organizations already heavily involved in wildlife trafficking issues.
At least some AZA members were beneficiaries of these monies last year, and one was kind enough to share his experience with Zoo Advisors. Tony Vecchio, Executive Director at Jacksonville Zoo, told us:
“The city used some of their $160 million in CARES Act money to create a fund to help local non-profits. The zoo received $4 million from the city from that fund. Just before the city’s deadline to spend their CARES Act money they had several million dollars that had not been allocated. They gave us another $1 million from that fund. We have a great relationship with the mayor and his chief of staff serves on our board. So, we were in the middle of the city’s discussions on how to spend CARES Act funding.”
In similar stories:
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Memphis Zoo (along with four other local organizations) was the beneficiary of over $10 million in CARES Act and Memphis city grant funding. City council members led the charge on their behalf.
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Minnesota Zoo received $6 million in state Covid-19 relief funding, which replaced about 40% of its estimated annual loss in 2020.
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Elmwood Park Zoo received more than $300,000 in operating funds via a grant from the state of Pennsylvania to help provide relief in September 2020.
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Buffalo Zoo was part of a $1.8 million year-end relief package that came shortly before the deadline to use these funds arrived.
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Philadelphia Zoo received its share of a $20 million tranche of Pennsylvania state funds through the Covid-19 Culture and Museum Preservation Grant.
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Zoo Knoxville was the beneficiary of $700,000 in city funding to help offset operating losses.
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Shortly before the end-of-year deadline to allocate the funds, Brevard Zoo was awarded funding via its local County Commissioner, who had oversight on how the funds were to be distributed.
As cornerstone civic assets in your community, the takeaways are clear:
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Make sure you’re reaching into your networks to let officials know you have a need.
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There’s power in numbers. Work with local partner organizations to make a unified case when appropriate.
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Many of these dollars were allocated shortly prior to a deadline—make sure you’re aware of when these deadlines are, and time your requests appropriately.
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If you’ve recently completed economic impact research, make sure to share that! If not, add that to your to-do list.
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If you applied for the Paycheck Protection Program in 2020, you know the drill. Start getting those documents in order again.
Zoo Advisors will continue to share relevant news and updates on these funds as they relate to the zoo and aquarium community in upcoming days and weeks. Stay tuned for more!
