Lansing City Council approves $24 million in Rescue Plan spending

Action comes after compromise with Schor administration

TUESDAY, July 26 — The Lansing City Council gave the Schor administration the green light last night to spend more than $24 million in American Rescue Plan dollars.

The Council approved the expediture on a 6-2 vote. The dissenters were Brian Jackson, who represents the 4^th Ward, and Brian Daniels, from the 1^st Ward, who expressed concerns the money was not going to the average person. Jackson called the budget a “Christmas list for the city of Lansing.”

The Schor administration originally sought to give more funds to individual organizations, but the Council sought that more funds be directed to bigger-picture needs. The Ways and Means Committee heard numerous concerns from Latinx and LGBTQ organizations that they had been left out of the first round of funding.

“We didn’t want to be picking winners and losers,” said At-Large Council Member Patricia Spitzley in explaining the removal of the specific allocations in the second round.

Instead, the approved budget, which was negotiated with the Schor administration, creates a $1.9 million fund his administration can distribute to groups throughout the city. Councilmembers said they expect that process to be open, transparent and well advertised.

Other line items of note include:

• Gun violence prevention and other grant programs through the Department of Neighborhoods, Arts & Citizen Engagement = $300,000
• Fire Department gear, EMS equipment and vehicle upgrades = $2.78 million
• Parks & Recreation upgrades to several parks and facilities across the city = $3.4 million
• Office of Financial Empowerment to promote and expand economic mobility & education programs, including assistance to help clear DWL balances = $202,000
• Police Department safety equipment, athletic league, training, and record modernization = $1.45 million
• The Lansing Equitable Economic Development program = $2 million
• Downtown Lansing and small business assistance programs = $600,000
• Economic Development grants and assistance programs = $1.1 million
• Student graduation program partnership with the Lansing School District = $400,000

The money was part of COVID relief package passed by the federal government in 2021. Cash from the law designated for local governments was sent in two payments. Lansing’s payments totaled nearly $50 million over two years.