Title
To Support Fair, Direct Federal Emergency Support to Rebuild Local American Economies
Body
WHEREAS, municipalities are essential to America’s economic recovery and without funding support for local governments, municipalities may go from being a critical part of the economic solution to a drag on long-term stabilization and recovery; and
WHEREAS, cities big and small will experience budgetary impacts because of COVID-19, especially in Ohio due to municipal reliance on income taxes; and
WHEREAS, America’s rural communities and small towns are struggling just as much as big cities and risk being left behind; and
WHEREAS, current federal assistance to cities is laden with restrictions and cannot replace lost revenue or existing expenses; and
WHEREAS, Columbus and regional partners rely on industries, such as tourism and food services, that will not be able to recover fully until there is a vaccine; and
WHEREAS, federal funding must be flexible and address not only the additional expenses incurred by communities to respond to the pandemic emergency, but also the dramatic budgetary shortfalls resulting from pauses in commerce, tourism, other economic engines; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That Columbus calls on Congress to allocate fair and direct federal support to all of America’s communities, regardless of population size, and work with cities to protect vulnerable families