About 75 people gathered Monday for what was billed as the “American Jobs Plan” tour, which refers to the White House plan to spend $2 trillion on infrastructure over the next eight years.
But three of the four speakers spent most of their address advocated the rebuilding of labor unions and eliminating Indiana’s Right To Work law, which essentially prohibits someone from being forced into becoming a member of a labor organization as a condition of employment.
Monday’s event at the Donner Park shelterhouse was held in conjunction with the Bartholomew County Democratic Party, and the master of ceremonies, Democratic city councilwoman Grace Kestler, touched upon where local funds being received through President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan will be spent.
Bartholomew County government received just over $16 million, while the city of Columbus was provided with just over $8 million in federal relief funds, Kestler said. Half of those funds have already been received, while the other half will be allocated next year, she said.
While a certain amount of these funds are earmarked for conventional infrastructure projects, the county has already announced it’s intention to spend 25% of their funding (about $4 million) for expanding rural broadband service, the councilwoman said.
“I think that’s really incredible because COVID showed how important it is to connect (via the internet) for school-age children, or to have the ability to work from home,” Kestler said.
Efforts to replace and reimburse lost revenue to some government departments are planned by both the city and county, the councilwoman said. In addition, the county wants to upgrade some parks, replace heating, cooling and ventilation systems at the county jail, and support township fire departments, she said.
Specific allocations of federal money will be considered when the Columbus City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 3.
But Kestler says she believes a substantial amount of money will go toward continuing substance abuse initiatives, as well as funding some housing projects, she said.
The councilwoman expressed her excitement about tentative plans to open an application process for nonprofits to apply for lost revenue caused by the pandemic. Kestler is executive director of The Arc of Bartholomew County, a non-profit dedicated to helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities become fully immersed into the community.
Plans to provide affordable direct support to disabled children and elderly, create more home health care workers, and establish more affordable child care were also touched upon. The councilwoman said each will reduce job turnover and help financially struggling families.
The city and the county will receive the remaining half of their allocations next year, and will have until 2026 to spend those funds, the council member said.
Among the other speakers, former U.S. Congressman Baron Hill joined Brent Voorhies of the Indiana AFL-CIO and Rick Russell of the Carpenter’s Union in advocating the federal “Protecting the Right to Organize” (PRO) Act. Supporters say the bill expands labor protections related to employee’s rights to organize and collectively bargain. But the PRO Act, also known as H.R. 842, faces an uncertain future in the U.S. Senate.
In his closing comments, Hill warned that the GOP opposition will attempt to use spin, falsehoods and fear to turn President Biden’s recovery plans into “something evil.”
“And unless we fight back … (Republicans) will distort the message once again, and we can’t let that happen,” the former congressman said.
