PROVIDENCE – A Rhode Island Foundation-led initiative to offer advice on how state leaders should spend more than $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act has developed a set of guiding principles for its recommendations, and a preliminary timeline for its operations.
The Make It Happen Initiative’s steering committee, operating with support from the Economic Progress Institute and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, has developed a set of guiding principles for its recommendations, including: Addressing equity, including the root causes of systemic inequalities that had been exacerbated by the pandemic; addressing sustainability, to improve the resilience of impacted communities; addressing impact, to ensure the investments of federal funds will transform economic opportunities and quality of life in the communities in which the funds are spent; and process, with the steering committee aiming to engage with range of sources, including impacted communities and public stakeholders, as well as data and research.
The committee is accepting ideas from the community until July 15. Following that period, the committee intends on holding facilitated forums to further receive feedback, and to dig into community-submitted ideas. After analyzing the public feedback and input, and conducting additional research and data collection, the committee expects to share a final set of recommendations by the end of September.
“This infusion of federal taxpayer dollars into the state creates a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, said on Monday in a statement. “Policymakers are tasked with strategically investing the funds over three years in ways that are beneficial to all in the community.
“The Make It Happen steering committee, informed by community input from Rhode Islanders and policy analysis by RIPEC and EPI, will offer spending recommendations to state leaders that are intended to positively change the trajectory of the state for generations to come,” he said.
