Finance committees add safeguards for planning ARPA funds in January
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – The House and Senate finance committees today revised the governor’s proposal for a portion of RI’s 1.13 billion American Rescue Plan Act State Fiscal Recovery Funds, giving safeguards and more specifics about how the federal funds will be used. The proposal will now be decided by both committees, who have until January.
The committee added $6 million to support child care needs. The committees didn’t change the $38.5 million to support services to children and families, $32 million to assist small businesses impacted by COVID-19, $29.5 million to promote affordable housing, housing stability supports and broadband planning, and $13 million for hard-hit tourism, hospitality and event industries, but added reporting requirements, more specifics about the proposed uses of the funds, and other accountability measures to the bill.
“We have a responsibility to spend this money in ways that help everyday Rhode Islanders move forward and ensure that our state and its institutions are able to weather the storm brought on by the pandemic. Our goal has been to make sure the money is spent where it is most needed, particularly in hard-hit sectors like public health, housing and childcare, where resources were already thin before COVID hit,” said House Finance Committee Chairman Marvin L. Abney (D-Dist. 73, Newport, Middletown).
Said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ryan W. Pearson (D-Dist. 19, Cumberland, Lincoln), “Shoring up child care in particular was a very important priority for us in the Senate. The availability of high-quality, affordable child care is important for the safety and development of our children, and it critical for our workforce and business strength as well. The dollars we invest in childcare have multiplier effect, improving the lives of families and the success of businesses and the state’s economy as a whole.”
With the additional $6 million, the child care initiative is around $18.7 million for bonuses for child care workers and $300,000 for childcare start-up incentives. There was no change to the proposed $5.5 million toward Early Intervention Programs, and $7.5 million for pediatric health. Lawmakers added more specific wording to ensure funding is intentionally allocated and added a separate pot for $3.6 million from CARES Act funding for stabilization purposes.
To ease the housing crisis, the committees held onto $29.5 million, but added requirements that work with other available funds and plan to use the money for Housing Production Fund that was made this year as a means of pushing swift action in the housing industry. They’ve also added a specification for the use of $1.5 million for stabilizing 500 people experiencing homelessness, with monthly reports on the spending of those funds.
They’ve added another specification for the use of $32 million toward business and tourism, limiting grants to businesses that make less than $1 million annually, as well as requiring that 20% of the funds go to minority-owned businesses.
