Mayor Plans to Send $1 Billion of Pandemic Relief Funds to Banks;$465 Million to J.P. Morgan Chase!

WHO: Alderpeople Daniel La Spata, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), United Working Families, Grassroots Collaborative Chicago

BACKGROUND: Chicago and its residents have been devastated by the economic and health impacts of the pandemic. Congress passed the American Relief Plan last month, which designated $1.9 billion in discretionary funds for Chicago communities reeling from these impacts. After spending $281 million of discretionary CARES Act money on police last year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants more than half of the incoming federal pandemic relief funds meant for our city and its people to go towards JPMorgan Chase and other banks to pay off bad deals. Instead, Lightfoot and Chicago must prioritize community needs and implement transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.

READ: ACRE Fact Sheet on Chicago ARP Relief 

WHAT: Elected representatives from Chicago’s 1st, 25th and 33rd Wards, and Leaders from Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) will demand:

  • Mayor Lightfoot spend the $1.9 billion pandemic relief funds on helping Chicago communities recover from the pandemic, not on bank interest, police funding or budget shortfalls
  • JPMorgan Chase waive the $9 million annual interest on the loan Lightfoot took out in December 2020
  • Chicago join other cities like Philadelphia and Los Angeles in calling on the Federal Reserve to make zero-cost loans to state and local governments
  • City Council pass the resolution directing Mayor Lightfoot to refrain from spending American Rescue Plan funds meant to rebuild and repair our communities on cops or Wall Street banks

THURSDAY, MAY 6 AT 9AM CDT 

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Alderpeople, Community Leaders Publicly Call On Mayor Lightfoot To Stop Funneling Relief Dollars to Wall Street

Mayor Plans to Send $1 Billion of Pandemic Relief Funds to Banks;$465 Million to J.P. Morgan Chase!

Today, Alderpeople Daniel La Spata, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, together with community leaders from Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), United Working Families, Grassroots Collaborative Chicago held a public press conference to call on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to stop funneling relief dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to Wall Street banks, and instead prioritize community needs and implement transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.

Chicago and its residents have been devastated by the economic and health impacts of the pandemic. Congress passed the American Relief Plan last month, which designated $1.9 billion in discretionary funds for Chicago communities reeling from these impacts. After spending $281 million of discretionary CARES Act money on police last year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants more than half of the incoming federal pandemic relief funds meant for our city and its people to go towards JPMorgan Chase and other banks to pay off bad deals.

READ MORE: ACRE Fact Sheet on Chicago ARP Relief 

At the briefing, elected representatives from Chicago’s 1st, 25th and 33rd Wards, and Leaders from Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) demanded:

  • Mayor Lightfoot spend the $1.9 billion pandemic relief funds on helping Chicago communities recover from the pandemic, not on bank interest, police funding or budget shortfalls
  • JPMorgan Chase waive the $9 million annual interest on the loan Lightfoot took out in December 2020
  • Chicago join other cities like Philadelphia and Los Angeles in calling on the Federal Reserve to make zero-cost loans to state and local governments
  • City Council pass the resolution directing Mayor Lightfoot to refrain from spending American Rescue Plan funds meant to rebuild and repair our communities on cops or Wall Street banks

Saqib Bhatti, Co-Executive Director at ACRE, said:  “Why is Mayor Lightfoot throwing $465Million dollars out the window to ‘save’ $9Million a year in interest? Instead, Mayor Lightfoot should join us in demanding Chase Bank waive the interest on this loan, so we can ensure that Chicago’s Black and Brown communities get the relief money we need and deserve. We need to stop Jamie Dimon and Chase Bank from taking our money.”

Alderperson Rossana Rodriguez–33rd Ward, said: “We are not funding the needs of the people! The city of Chicago had 13,000 police officers, while the Department of Public Health had less than 500 employees, during a pandemic! The Mayor is giving our money to the police, and now threatening to give it away to banks as well. $68 million dollars of our CARES Act money went unused. We need to ensure that our money is used the right way this time.”

Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez–25th Ward, said: “The urgency of this time demands we invest in our communities. The broken priorities the city has had the last two years has left devastation in our communities. We need a comprehensive plan to address our holistic needs, mental health, addressing homelessness, quality public education. This city is prioritizing the super rich, corporations and police while the most vulnerable suffer. “

Edrika Fulford, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said: “We have the Covid Relief Fund, with funds earmarked to address homelessness. This is a short term resource, and we need to make long term investments in permanent supportive housing. We have the Bring Chicago Home proposal to address Chicago’s need for affordable housing and supportive services. We need progressive revenue to address our housing crisis, and we could have it if Mayor Lightfoot had kept her campaign promise to support progressive revenue. The City of Chicago must make [helping] people experiencing homelessness a priority. ” 

Alyx Goodwin, Senior Organizer Policing and Incarceration at ACRE, said: “Lightfoot giving ARP funds to J.P. Morgan Chase is an example of her commitment to putting profit over people. $465 Million dollars to Chase, rather than healthcare, jobs, violence prevention or reparations. Decisions like this keep Black and Brown communities in a vicious cycle of under-investment and over-policing. Our demands to defund the police must also include cancelling debt to Wall Street banks.”

Alderman Daniel LaSpata–1st Ward, said: “We have to learn from our past mistakes of opaque and unaccountable governance. The Right to Recovery Coalition is our City’s opportunity to have the transformative level of investment in our cities spent in a democratic way. We need transparency and accountability to move forward. “

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