6.21.21 BNP Advocacy Alert – Poloncarz Announces ARP Spending Plan
Blog Categories
June 21, 2021
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced today his plan to invest the county’s share of local aid from the latest COVID-19 relief package.
The American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan signed by President Biden in March, provided $178 million to Erie County.
Poloncarz said the county’s “RENEW Plan” will invest $123.7 million in:
- Infrastructure
- ErieNET, a 360-mile high-speed fiberoptic network across Erie County
- $33 million in sewer and water upgrades
- $5 million for construction of a new DPW barn on Harlem Road
- $10 million for upgrades to the county building at 50 Delaware Avenue and the replacement of roof tiles at SUNY Erie’s downtown campus
- $5 million in DPW pay-as-you-go road funding
- Regional Attractions
- $14.3 million in the Erie County Parks system
- Largest single-year investment since the 1930s WPA program
- Restoration of the Wendt Mansion and Stables
- $400,000 in upgrades to the South Park casino and Martin Luther King Park grow-houses
- Significant investment in Chestnut Ridge Park – Parking Lot, Casino Improvements, Roadway Improvements, Comfort Station upgrades
- Other upgrades to Ellicott Creek Park, Como Lake Park, Emery Park, Grover Cleveland Park, Seneca Bluffs Park.
- $5 million for the Botanical Gardens Expansion Project
- $4.5 million for facade renovations to the Convention Center
- $14.3 million in the Erie County Parks system
- County Personnel
- Replacement of previous COVID-related budget cuts
- 107 of 287 cut county positions restored
- Premium pay for essential county workers who worked during first wave of pandemic – up to $5/hour bonus
- 35 new jobs in the parks department, EMS services, district attorney’s office, purchasing, cancer services, and a newly-created Office of Health Equity
- Replacement of previous COVID-related budget cuts
- Other Investments
- $2.8 million for small business promotion programs
- $1.6 million to fully fund Health Professionals Opportunity Grant Program to train health workforce
- $15 million in other “Strategic Community Group Capital Investments”
The RENEW Plan is being presented to the Erie County Legislature this week. Poloncarz expects the remaining tranche of ARP funds to arrive in May 2022.
Related Posts
Empire Center: Single Payer “Sticker Shock”
A new report from the Empire Center for Public Policy details how expensive a single payer healthcare system would be in New York. The full report is available here.
Workforce Policy Update March 2022
The BNP works closely with government leaders to keep them informed of employer challenges and to advocate for policy that would ease the workforce crisis. The BNP supports legislation that expands access to education and training, makes quality childcare more accessible, removes barriers to workforce participation, and reforms our immigration system to meet our region’s workforce needs.
What is Carbon Pricing?
In the New York State Climate Action Council’s Draft Scoping Plan, the Council recommends implementing some form of carbon pricing to help the state combat climate change. So, what is carbon pricing, and how would it impact New York?
2.10.22 COVID Bulletin: BNP Gets Answers on Masking and HERO Act
Yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced she would repeal the state’s mask mandate, effective today. However, her announcement did not proactively address how the repeal coincided with the NY HERO Act, which would have required employees in most workplaces to continue masking.