The
U.S. Senate has now released its proposal for a new round of COVID-19 relief,
and the package DOES NOT
include additional funds for state and local government. Instead, the plan
leaves cities and towns to fend for themselves when it comes to pandemic-caused
budget shortfalls.
Please
contact your members of Congress now to urge them to provide direct assistance
to cities and towns! Let them know that sales tax and utility revenue streams
have been harmed by the economic effects of the pandemic and must be addressed for
the economy to recover.
With the
U.S. House already approving a relief package that does include funding for
municipalities, it is important to encourage those congressional supporters to
continue to stand strong with municipalities as negotiations begin. It is also
crucial to let your U.S. senators know that flexibility for previously approved
CARES Act dollars is not enough, as the pandemic’s effects continue and
economic uncertainty remains. For your convenience,
you can find
individual contact info here.
Also let
them know that:
-Cities are
builders of infrastructure that private industry depends on. When cities are
forced to cut spending, economic recovery of the state will be delayed. Future
growth will be delayed.
-Cities and
towns did not cause the situation that they now find themselves in and the
resulting shortfalls; a global pandemic did.
-Roughly 30
percent of municipal general fund dollars go toward public safety, and without
help, cuts to these services are inevitable.
-Municipalities
are the primary providers of water and sewer service to North Carolinians, and
those utility funds are suffering due to bill non-payments even as they have
fixed costs that must be paid.
For North
Carolina to emerge strong from the economic effects of COVID-19, the financial
health of cities and towns is crucial. Contact
your members of Congress now to let them know that providing additional,
flexible and direct assistance to municipalities is crucial to the
state’s economic recovery!
(You can also assist in
this effort by sending out
this short,
animated video emphasizing the importance of cities and towns to
economic recovery on social media channels and tagging your members of
Congress.)
