Members of the Springfield State delegation provided an update on the status of the $5 billion of ARPA funding the Commonwealth has been allotted, and the pending Economic Development legislation that included a $1 billion tax relief package for residents and $10 million in additional funding for heating and fuel assistance that was earmarked for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Mayor Sarno states, “I want to thank our local State delegation for their continued efforts advocating on behalf of our Springfield at the State House and look forward to continuing to work with them. My administration is looking forward for the eventual passage of the pending State Economic Development bill, which would provide much-needed relief for our residents and business community, especially as the weather starts to get colder and households are going to be in need of assistance for heating and fuel. We also had a good discussion on how the State’s $5 billion of ARPA funding can be utilized to continue to support our Springfield residents, businesses and nonprofits, especially those that I have already provided assistance too with my local Springfield ARPA funding.”
In total, Mayor Sarno has committed over $52 million across seven rounds of ARPA funding announcements for residents, seniors, nonprofits, businesses and neighborhoods – with more to come!
“I am proud of my administration’s efforts in committing our local ARPA funding. In total, I have awarded over $9.5 million of local ARPA funding specially to help our local businesses, with $5.3 million or 56% going towards minority owned businesses, and $1.2 million or 13% going towards women owned businesses. Furthermore, I have committed over $19 million to local nonprofits that serves our minority populations in need, and $21 million has been committed to businesses and nonprofits located within the Qualified Census Track (QCT) and over $28 million awarded to our 17 neighborhood areas,” said Mayor Sarno.
The city of Springfield has seen a tremendous response from residents applying for ARPA assistance. In total, the city of Springfield has received over 17,000 Household/Senior ARPA applications, and to date, has awarded over 1,300 applications in $1,400 in direct cash assistance or $1.8 million in total, directly to residents and seniors.
“However, I cannot do this alone,” Mayor Sarno added. “I/We need the State to support our local ARPA funding efforts with a portion of their $5 billion in ARPA funding. I appreciate our local State Delegation, those of whom did attend, for taking the time to provide me and my dedicated city team with an update and also hear how my administration has successfully distributed our local Springfield ARPA funding across all of our neighborhoods throughout the city with 56% of our ARPA business ARPA funding going towards minority owned businesses. I am also proud of all the successful programs, initiatives, and opportunities that my administration continues to move forward on and look forward to announcing more in the future. Once again, it has been pointed out to me, that I am the only mayor in the State who has created such direct and extensive assistance programs to benefit businesses, households, seniors, nonprofits and infrastructure projects. My administration has not sat on the money – we’ve moved to get it out on our streets and neighborhoods ASAP.”
