EDITORIAL: ARPA funding -- use it or lose it

Jun. 30—Everywhere you look, it seems, ARPA money is hard at work across the Cape Ann, the North Shore and the Merrimack Valley. And that trend is only going to continue to grow.

For those who've been living a hermetic existence in the last two years, ARPA stands for the American Rescue Plan Act. It is also known as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package, as it was meant to blunt the negative financial impact of the pandemic on the economy. It is valued at nearly $2 trillion.

It is up to the states to determine how to allocate that money, and it has gone to a myriad of programs, from unemployment insurance and health care to transportation and economic development.

In Lawrence on Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito joined local and other state dignitaries for a ceremony at the site of Island Parkside Housing, an apartment complex under construction on Island Street. The first phase of the project — being undertaken by Lawrence Community Works — is set to be completed in the spring of 2023 and will provide "40 affordable and climate-resilient apartment homes for local families," according to the LCW website.

When fully complete, both phases of the development will offer a total of "80 sustainable rental units, in addition to a new Lawrence headquarters for SquashBusters youth programming, substantial green space and riverfront views, and improved public access to the existing Ellen Swallow Richards urban wild," according to LCW.

Polito was on-hand Tuesday to discuss how ARPA funding could be used if a bill filed by the Baker-Polito administration is approved by the Legislature. "An Act Investing in Future Opportunities for Resiliency, Workforce, and Revitalized Downtowns," or FORWARD, was originally proposed by the administration in Lynn in April. It includes $2.3 billion in ARPA funding and over $1.3 billion in capital bond authorizations. It would pay for projects "to strengthen state infrastructure, create jobs and invest in all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth," according to a press release issued in April about the legislation.

While the Baker-Polito administration comes to an end at the end of this year — as Baker and Polito are not going to run for a third term — state officials are not resting on their laurels. Indeed, both Baker and Polito, along with cabinet members such as Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy — who was also in Lawrence Wednesday — are working feverishly to make sure that ARPA money gets spent in the most effective ways possible, and that includes on projects like Island Parkside.

One reason for the urgency they bring to their mission is that the money has to be committed by 2024 and spent by 2026, Polito said during her remarks. "The federal dollars have a time sensitivity," Polito explained.

Kennealy agreed.

"We need to get the money committed now or we're going to lose it," he said, emphasizing the urgency of this bill. "We can't risk losing the money."

The bill was just reviewed in a hearing by the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets last Friday.

It would behoove the Legislature to approve this program, as it will have a direct benefit on projects all across the region.