$10M in ARP funds went to Providence ‘reparations’ commission pushing for bail fund, K-12 racism curriculum

FIRST ON FOX: Millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) helped create a "reparations" commission that is pushing for a bail bond fund and K-12 curriculum reform, among other measures, to address systemic racism experienced by people of color in Providence, Rhode Island.

The ARP Act, which Democrats passed in March 2021 without any Republican support, was billed by the Democratic Party as an economic necessity for getting the country through the COVID-19 pandemic. Economists on both sides of the political aisle have since blamed the $1.9 trillion bill for overheating the economy and contributing to the current inflation crisis.

After $166 million in ARP funds was awarded to Providence, Democratic Mayor Jorge Elorza signed a budget ordinance into law this year that funneled the majority of those funds – over $123 million – into categories that center racial "equity and resiliency" due to the "disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable and frontline communities," according to the Providence Rescue Plan website. Elorza’s budget allocated over $13 million specifically toward "racial equity" and $10 million of that went toward creating the Providence Municipal Reparations Commission.