Press Releases

Today, U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) supported the Coronavirus Community Relief Act (H.R. 6467), legislation led by Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-02) to provide $250 billion in stabilization funds for local communities, cities and towns across the United States that are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was enacted on March 27, provided $150 billion in stabilization funds for states and larger communities, but capped localities able to receive direct support at those with populations of over 500,000. This creates funding delays and additional challenges for smaller towns, cities and rural counties that have been hit hard by COVID-19. Even larger Pennsylvania counties like Luzerne were overlooked for direct funds, despite grappling with one of the highest per capita rates of COVID-19 infection in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

“When you’re working to keep your community safe during an emergency, every second counts. As we fight a global pandemic, that’s true more now than ever,” said Rep. Cartwright. “We’ve seen a surge in coronavirus cases in northeastern Pennsylvania in the last few weeks, and our local governments need to be able to access federal relief funding quickly to keep up with the huge costs of keeping critical services running. With direct access to funding, our municipalities can continue an aggressive fight against this virus and return to normal sooner once this outbreak is behind us.”

This legislation is part of Cartwright’s ongoing efforts to ensure smaller cities, towns and counties are not left behind as they respond to COVID-19. Earlier this month, Cartwright joined 127 of his Democratic and Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Speaker Pelosi requesting that future COVID-19 response packages set aside stabilization funding specifically for localities with populations under 500,000.

See the bill text here.