Washington County ARPA Funds Advocacy
BACKGROUND
President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed in 2021, was a bill that offered cash assistance directly to American workers, cities, and counties that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. ARPA dollars were meant to invest resources in communities hardest hit by the pandemic, many coming from communities already experiencing economic and health inequities. These investments have been in housing assistance, job and workforce development, health services, and other areas of life impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
THE ISSUE?
We recently learned that the Washington County Board of Commissioners is considering investing ARPA money in the local jail and a juvenile detention center. Investing in a carceral system that systematically oppresses many in our community is a blatant misuse of funds. We know incarceration is a public health crisis, and federal ARPA funds should be used to provide relief to our communities rather than making our jails bigger and better.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
We have an opportunity to change this. The current draft plan of action presented to the Board of Commissioners in a work session on March 21, 2023, embodies a band-aid approach that does not appear to have a strong nexus to ARPA’s goals or intent.
Community groups are asking the Board of Commissioners to honor ARPA money's values and intent and instead invest that money in a way that positions us for a more resilient, prosperous, and equitable future.
This proposed approach to spending $70 million of ARPA funding leaves Washington County communities, businesses, and county departments ill-equipped to recover and rebuild from the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Washington County is positioned to quickly take positive action to meet needs borne out of the COVID-19 global pandemic with ARPA funds NOW. Washington County has a long list of strengths, the top of which is its people. Our organizations support residents who lift up economies, care for families, and steward our air, water, and soils.
TAKE ACTION!
Our elected officials need to hear from you, their constituents, on this issue. Without community input, the Washington County Board of Commissioners will continue to use funds inappropriately and bolster the prison system of Washington County. We all deserve to have a Board of Commissioners that works for the interests of the people of Washington County rather than perpetuating a prison system built on desperation and detention.