Record #: R2021-444   
Type: Resolution Status: Failed to Pass
Intro date: 4/21/2021 Current Controlling Legislative Body: Committee on Budget and Government Operations
Final action: 5/24/2023
Title: Call for Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot to present spending plan for allocation of American Rescue Act funds toward services for immediate needs of communities hardest hit by COVID-19 pandemic
Sponsors: Rodriguez Sanchez, Rossana , Taylor, Jeanette B. , La Spata, Daniel , Rodriguez, Michael D., Sigcho-Lopez, Byron, Ramirez-Rosa, Carlos, Vasquez, Jr., Andre, Martin, Matthew J. , Hadden, Maria E.
Topic: CITY COUNCIL - Miscellaneous
Attachments: 1. R2021-444.pdf
Related files: R2023-766
For introduction to: Committee on Budget and Government Operations
Chicago City Council Meeting April 21, 2021


RESOLUTION CALLING FOR ALL FUNDS FROM THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN TO BE ALLOCATED TOWARDS HEALING AND RECOVERY

WHEREAS, the City of Chicago will receive approximately $1.9 billion in unrestricted federal aid from the American Rescue Plan Act;

WHEREAS, budgets are moral documents, and as elected leaders of the City of Chicago, we have a historic opportunity and moral responsibility to use all available resources to invest in a robust and equitable recovery that meets the needs of our residents;

WHEREAS, the disparate health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are layered on top of inequitable conditions in our communities, resulting in devastating levels of unemployment, food and housing insecurity; and

WHEREAS, Chicagoans are reeling with grief and outrage at the killing of a 13-year old child by the Chicago Police Department; and

WHEREAS, Chicagoans are already grieving the thousands more who have been killed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of whom are Black and Latinx; and

WHEREAS, Chicago spent $281 million of discretionary CARES Act funding on the Chicago Police Department despite horrific cases of police violence, including the killings of Adam Toledo, Rekia Boyd, Anthony Alvarez, LaQuan McDonald, Pierre Loury, Bettie Jones, Quintonio LeGrier, Marc Nevarez, Dominique "Damo" Franklin Jr., Ronald "RonnieMan" Johnson, Miguel Vega and Roshad Mcintosh; and

WHEREAS, an additional $68 million in discretionary CARES Act funding was unspent at the end of 2020 even as Black, Latinx, and working-class Chicagoans are in desperate need of financial assistance with housing, utility, and medical costs; and

WHEREAS, the City of Chicago has repeatedly used regressive taxes, fines, fees, and bad deals with Wall Street banks to finance police brutality bonds while making cuts to schools, services, and clinics; and

BE IT RESOLVED, that we, members...

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