Liberty

To the editor:

The Sullivan County Legislature is not using American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds in the way Congress meant it to be spent. The allocation for Sullivan County is over $14 million dollars and is being distributed half this year and half in 2022.

The funds provide substantial flexibility in meeting local needs including support for households, small businesses, impacted industries, essential workers, and the communities hardest hit by the crisis. We can use the funds to respond to COVID-19-related public health and economic needs; continue to decrease the spread of COVID-19 and bring the pandemic under control; and lay the foundation for a strong recovery by bringing back jobs.

The Legislature, though, has designated this year’s $7 million dollars to be split between the Department of Public Works’ road paving program and Sullivan County Community College’s capital improvement project for boilers and heating systems.

The pandemic has made life very difficult in Sullivan County.   People have been ill. Seventy-nine people have died. People have lost their jobs. They cannot find childcare or homecare. There is an increase in mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse issues, and domestic violence. Landlords have not been paid. Small businesses are struggling and some have closed.

The federal government has stepped up with a huge gift. They have plopped $7 million dollars in our laps this year, yet none of it is going to support Public Health Services in their continuing work to vaccinate residents. None of it is going to low-income residents and people of color who have faced higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death as well as higher rates of unemployment and a lack of basic necessities like food and housing. And none of it is going to premium pay for essential workers because the Legislature has chosen instead to give a one-time $500 stipend to eligible workers from County funds.

Our Legislature has chosen road paving and boilers over helping people with pandemic-related needs and helping the programs that assist these people. It is shameful.