Why It Matters
Actors' Equity Association terminated its lobbying contract with Meltsner Strategies LLC on September 2, according to a filing with the Senate Office of Public Records.
Actors' Equity, which represents over 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Actors' Equity Association paid Meltsner Strategies LLC $123,500 in total fees across five filings.
According to available records, the firm's client roster has included Project for Election Infrastructure, which paid $766,000 in total fees; General Dynamics Corp., which paid $162,500; and the Association of Administrative Law Judges, which paid $129,500.
Broader Context
Actors' Equity has focused its advocacy on a narrow but persistent legislative goal: updating the Qualified Performing Artist Deduction through the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA). The deduction carries an income threshold of $16,000 set in 1986, a figure the union has sought to modernize.
The bill has been reintroduced multiple times without success. It appeared in the 116th Congress as H.R. 3121, the 117th Congress as H.R. 4750, and the 118th Congress as H.R. 2871. In the current 119th Congress, it has been reintroduced as both H.R. 721 and S. 1121. None of these versions have passed.
Meltsner Strategies began representing Actors' Equity in 2018, and Jim Meltsner, the sole registered lobbyist at the firm, handled the account. In 2019, when the firm's billing records are most complete, Meltsner lobbied on behalf of the union throughout all four quarters, focusing on the Qualified Performing Artist Deduction and H.R. 3121.
Actors' Equity lobbied on COVID-19 worker relief measures from the first quarter of 2020 through the first quarter of 2021, a period that encompassed the enactment of the CARES Act. The union also tracked the HEROES Act, which was not enacted in the 116th Congress.
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