The President of the Legislature has rejected Vice-President Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons and Legislator Rachel Barnhart’s legislation to require County Executive Bello to submit regular reports to the legislature regarding American Rescue Plan Act funding. The legislation would have required regular reports on award balances, compliance reports, audits and more.  In response, Legislator Barnhart created this ARPA… Continue Reading Legislator Barnhart Creates ARPA Tracker After Transparency Bill Blocked

Legislation submitted today by Vice-President Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons and Legislator Rachel Barnhart would require County Executive Adam Bello to provide regular reports to the Legislature about American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. In addition, the reports would have to be posted on the County website. The County received $144.1 million in ARPA funding, all of which… Continue Reading Legislation would require regular updates on ARPA 

Legislators Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons and Rachel Barnhart voted with a majority of Ways and Means Committee members against the $6 million contract with Starbridge to take over as fiscal sponsor of the Neighborhood Collaborative Project (NCP). This means the proposal has been killed in committee. As Legislator Barnhart’s analysis of NCP shows, the initiative must undergo… Continue Reading Legislators Vazquez-Simmons and Barnhart Vote No on Starbridge Contract

Read Report A report issued today shows Monroe County leads among all urban counties in New York State in denying benefits to public assistance applicants. Monroe County’s denial rate never dipped below 75% since 2020, and topped 80% last year. Data shows sanctions have dropped, but case closings and denials are up. The report, “Monroe… Continue Reading Report Shows Mixed Progress on Sanctions, Benefits Denials