The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission announced two new grant programs today that will bring over $1.6 million dollars in CARES Act funding to county small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Community and Economic Development Program Manager Patricia Mullins says the grants are targeted at low- to moderate-income business owners. Mullins spoke with WAMC.
New York’s U.S. Senators and a Hudson Valley Congressman say emergency federal funding they helped secure in a COVID-19 relief bill will help keep a county’s transit system in operation.
The Vermont Legislature adjourned on June 26th and plans to return at the end of August. The leader of the Senate and its finance committee chairs recently discussed the Legislature’s distribution of federal Coronavirus Relief Funds allocated to the state, and the work to be completed when they return.
The CARES Act passed by Congress in March effectively postponed federal student loan payments through September in light of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic — but some borrowers say their credit scores have taken a hit as a result.
Through the recently signed CARES Act, Pittsfield, Massachusetts has received almost $790,000 from the federal government in COVID-19 relief funds. Tuesday night, the city council approved Mayor Linda Tyer’s plan for how to distribute that money to city residents and business owners. WAMC spoke to Tyer about her plan, and how residents can access the funds.
New York U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Antonio Delgado are urging Congress to include funding for rural communities in the next coronavirus relief package. They say the bureaucratic maze to apply for grants leaves these communities struggling during the COVID-19 crisis.
In today’s Congressional Corner, New York representative Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat from the 18th district, continues his conversation with WAMC’s Alan Chartock.
President Donald Trump has signed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. Just hours after the House passed the legislation Friday, two New York congressmen from the Hudson Valley said the largest relief package in the country’s history was a necessity. WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne has more.
