Providence's $10 million reparations budget clears first major hurdle

Providence's $10-million reparations budget cleared a major hurdle on Tuesday night, receiving its first vote of approval from the City Council.

The budget is set to fund more than 20 efforts related to home ownership and financial literacy, workforce training, media, community organizations, small business and more.

The finance committee opted to remove three investments to establish a home repair fund, expand Mayor Jorge Elorza's guaranteed income program and create a legal defense fund for renters facing evictions. Instead, council members moved to reallocate the more than $1.7 million that would have been spent on those categories to a "United Way COVID-19 Equity Fund."

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Next step toward reparations

Details on how those funds would be spent was not provided, though the intent would be to secure additional funding for the city's reparations program. However, any proposed expenditures regarding that fund would require a public hearing followed by council approval.

The council was highly supportive of the budget, with all members voting in favor except Councilmen Michael Correia, Nicholas Narducci and James Taylor, and Councilwoman Kat Kerwin, who were each absent.

However, Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune didn't think the funds were sufficient.

"One thing I just want to highlight is that we cannot assume that allocating $10 million is enough to address the equity gap within our communities, within our city and our state," she said. "The harm that was caused by slavery or enslaving people continues today in this present day."

LaFortune went on to call the allocation "kind of disrespectful."

"But it’s something, right? If we’re starting somewhere," she said.

Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan, who leads the finance committee, agreed that it wasn't enough, stating "we could have used ten times as much money as we received." However, as Ryan pointed out, this marks the end of the committee's allocation of American Rescue Plan Act Funds, the federal money that allowed Providence to consider reparations.

Council members saw numerous letters from the public reacting to the budget. While there were more in support than against, the testimonies made clear that not everyone agrees that the money has been divvied up in the right way.

Rochelle Lee, who has been active on boards including the Providence Housing Authority and the Refugee Dream Center, as well as being active in local politics in the past, wrote in opposition of the budget, contending that there was insufficient community engagement.

Lee also criticized the spending, stating that while the projects included seek to address poverty and local development, they "will not create an array of efforts to build and sustain race equity for generations to come."

Justice Gaines, a past member of the mayor's African American Ambassadors Group, which worked on the plan for reparations, also raised concerns about the process, stating that some members "were regularly dismissed, degraded, and silenced."

In a statement, Elorza praised the work of council members, the ambassadors group and the reparations commission, calling it "not surprising that there are differences in opinions." "Each of the few cities that has taken on this work has faced critical questions and concerns; it is unavoidable," Elorza said. "However, we are especially proud that this debate is happening not as a hypothetical thought-experiment, but as a policy conversation with real resources and implications. We appreciate everyone who has been part of this work and look forward to the additional work that lies ahead."

The budget is now headed back to the finance committee for further review, and will require a second vote from the council before heading to the mayor's desk.

This story will be updated on Wednesday.

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence's $10M reparations budget clears first major hurdle