Washington, D.C. – Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide) joined a gathering of national leaders today, including President Joe Biden, to discuss the impacts of the American Rescue Plan. The panel, part of the National League of Cities (NLC) annual conference, focused on the historic opportunities created by these national investments including housing, direct cash assistance, and the need for ongoing relief for those most adversely impacted by the pandemic.
In Seattle, Councilmember Mosqueda, along with the Mayor and the rest of the City Council, leveraged the first tranche of American Rescue Plan funding to invest $128 million dollars directly into the community, including $50 million in housing and homelessness, $41.5 million in community well-being and increasing equity, and $23 million to help our community and small businesses recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic. The Seattle appropriations were made after deep community and stakeholder input, including a public hearing, community panel, collaboration with local elected officials across the country, and stakeholder workgroups.
“The American Rescue Plan, or the Seattle Rescue Plan as the local incarnation is known, created pathways to housing and greater housing stability, direct assistance to small businesses, workers and our most vulnerable, as well as funding to set us on a path toward a more equitable economic recovery,” said Mosqueda. “It was a tremendous honor to be on a panel with national and local trailblazers and to share the lessons we learned about how to best leverage these investments.”
The NLC event included prominent national and local leaders:
- Joe Biden, President of the United States
- Pete Buttigieg, US Secretary of Transportation
- Susan Rice, Former UN Ambassador and the Director of the Domestic Policy Council
- Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City
- Vince Williams, NLC President & Mayor of Union City, Georgia
- Steve Williams, Mayor of Huntington, West Virginia
- Sharon Weston-Broome, Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Quinton Lucas, Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
- Teresa Mosqueda, Seattle City Councilmember
In addition to being a Board Member of the National League of Cities, Mosqueda is also the Budget Chair for the Seattle City Council and the architect of JumpStart Seattle, a groundbreaking progressive payroll tax that makes unprecedented, ongoing investments in housing, small business, workforce development, Seattle’s Green New Deal as well as equitable development. JumpStart Seattle’s priorities supplement many of the same investments that were possible because of the American Rescue Plan.
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