Courier Journal: 'Help is here': With COVID relief money, Louisville can create opportunity for all

Mayor Greg Fischer | Opinion contributor

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) provides Louisville with the opportunity to not only eliminate the COVID-19 virus and recover from the pandemic, but to make historic progress toward becoming a city of equity and opportunity for all.

Signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, ARP includes $1,400 direct payments to many individual Americans, a revolutionary child tax credit that could dramatically reduce child poverty and financial support for state and local governments that have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan should provide an estimated $434.5 million to Louisville Metro Government (LMG) to implement our recovery work as a city-county consolidated government.

In my capacity as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I worked for months with my bipartisan colleagues from across the country to persuade Washington that cities, counties and states need these funds to support their residents during a time when millions of Americans are out of work, short of food, facing eviction and dealing with countless urgent challenges brought on by COVID-19. I want to thank President Biden and all the members of Congress who listened and responded, including our own Congressman John Yarmuth, chairman of the House Budget Committee, who managed the legislative process in the House and worked tirelessly to ensure its passage.

Their message is, “Help is here.”

Locally, how we invest this money will have a dramatic impact on our city. And thankfully, we already have a framework in place: Our Build Back Better, Together (B3T) initiative, a community-led effort designed to create a more prosperous and just future for all Louisvillians, particularly those residents most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice.

B3T will help guide our investments, in partnership with Metro Council and the people of Louisville. Those conversations are already underway as we await further guidance from the administration.

The U.S. Treasury Department is finalizing guidelines for city and state governments, though we expect the funds to be used to mitigate direct and indirect effects of the pandemic. And remember, that assistance will be complemented by millions more in federal aid devoted to public and private efforts addressing specific aspects of the impact of the emergency and to boost our economic recovery. It includes funding for vaccinations, child care, rent and utility assistance, broadband access, community health clinics, non-profits and continued support for especially hard-hit business sectors, such as our restaurant sector, which employs thousands of people. The act also extends pandemic-related unemployment benefits.

According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of Americans support ARP. Any opposition to the act generally centers around its price tag, and it is certainly an enormous investment. But in Louisville, where compassion is one of our top city values, we understand that ending COVID-19, saving lives by expanding vaccinations, helping more people stay in their homes, reopening schools and making it possible for people to go to work and feed their children are goals worthy of investment. And when combined with the power of people that is so vital to our compassion work, this funding provides us an unprecedented opportunity to reach our goal of ensuring that every person in our city has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Still, we must keep in mind that Metro Government’s estimated allocation of $434.5 million, based on preliminary figures provided by Congress, will address only a fraction of the total need for health and human services and economic relief in our community. So, we can’t expect this funding to solve every major problem in its entirety. In addition, the Rescue Plan provides only one-time – rather than recurring – funding, which we will receive in two stages, half this spring and the other half one year later. All the funds must be spent by the end of 2024. 

At its heart, the American Rescue Plan Act is designed to help us fight and defeat the virus and get people working, schools reopened and our economy moving now.

That said, government can only succeed in partnership with the people it serves, and that requires trust and accountability. That’s why I’m proud Louisville also has been selected as part of a cohort of six cities that are working with the Accelerator for America on best practices for managing this funding and implementing local programs. The people of Louisville should have confidence that the ARP funding, like every dollar they invest in Metro Government through their local taxes, will be spent responsibly, efficiently, transparently and in accordance with their values. And to ensure the federal dollars are spent properly, compliance guidelines and auditing requirements are irrevocable elements of ARP.

The American Rescue Plan provides us with a historic opportunity to move our city forward, working together to target restorative and transformative investments in equity, economic development, housing, transportation, human capital and other critical areas that ensure maximum benefit for the future of our city. Thank you, President Biden and Congress, for giving us critical resources to help us not just recover, but Build Back Better, Together.

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