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To support requests made by the City of Richmond to the United States Congress for the enactment of legislation to supplement and modify the CARES Act for the provision of additional federal aid to recover from the damaging economic loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote timely economic recovery assistance for all residents.
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WHEREAS, the Council believes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on every level of the local economy, from City government, to small businesses, to families; and
WHEREAS, the City projects that revenues will be reduced for the proposed budget for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2020, and ending June 30, 2021, by $38,500,000; and
WHEREAS, upon information and belief of the Council, small businesses, the backbone of the City's economy, have had to shutter their doors at a significant and alarming rate; and
WHEREAS, according to data released by the Virginia Employment Commission, over 12,000 residents within the city of Richmond have filed for unemployment benefits over recent weeks, adding to the millions of Americans who have already done so across the United States; and
WHEREAS, according to data released by the National Multifamily Housing Council, nearly one-third of apartment renters nationally did not pay their rent for the month of April; and
WHEREAS, data from the Richmond City Health District shows that the city's communities of color are being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic at a higher rate than other racial and ethnic communities; and
WHEREAS, the Council believes that the federal stimulus program entitled the "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act," known as "the CARES Act," which was enacted by the 116th Congress of the United States on March 27, 2020, will provide some necessary emergency assistance to localities, including cities like the City of Richmond, that have more diverse populations that will need additional feder...
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