The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, but the bill did not include any help specific to the health club industry despite the restaurant industry getting specific funding.
President Biden is expected to sign the bill on March 12.
The bill will offer additional relief to small businesses as well as send a direct payment of $1,400 to some Americans, extend federal unemployment payments of $300 weekly to Sept. 6 and expand a child tax credit.
“We were disappointed the Senate failed to include the fitness industry in the recent relief package that passed this last weekend, but we really weren't surprised,” Brent Darden, IHRSA interim president and CEO, said in his weekly Take Five video. “We knew it was going to be a longshot to get included in this bill, given the timing and the restrictions as far as adding amendments to the bill, which is why we need to continue reaching out to our representatives, and keep telling them how much clubs in their communities need targeted relief.”
IHRSA, which is the trade association for commercial health clubs, is looking at the next opportunity to get the Gym Mitigation and Survival Act (GYMS Act) through Congress. The GYMS Act would provide a $30 billion recovery fund for the fitness industry in the form of Small Business Administration grants that could pay for payroll, rent, mortgage, utilities, insurance and other expenses fitness facilities normally incur.
Chuck Runyon, CEO of Self Esteem Brands, which includes Anytime Fitness, The Bar Method and Basecamp Fitness, also spoke in favor of the GYMS Act after sharing his disappointment that the relief package did not include relief specific to health clubs.
In a video he posted to YouTube, Runyon said: “While Congress failed to support the fitness industry this time, we are not giving up the fight for fitness as an essential business worthy of direct stimulus relief.”
Runyon urged people in the fitness industry to contact their Congress members to support the GYMS Act, which has 50 House sponsors (as of March 10).
Other organizations voicing support of the GYMS Act are the Community Gyms Coalition and the International Franchise Association.
To help get more sponsors for the bill, IHRSA is offering resources on its website.