Chelsea, Everett, Randolph, Methuen get $109 million in added coronavirus aid

Days after federal lawmakers waded into a spat between the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker over who should hold the purse strings when it comes to federal stimulus dollars, four hard-hit cities got some long-awaited aid.

Chelsea, Everett, Methuen and Randolph received a combined $109 million in direct aid from Massachusetts’ share of the American Rescue Plan money.

“Our administration committed additional funds to Chelsea, Everett, Methuen and Randolph to ensure all of the commonwealth’s communities received the funding they deserved from the federal relief package,” Baker said. “These four communities were disproportionately impacted by the virus, and this additional funding will support critical local COVID response and recovery efforts.”

The cities were initially shortchanged due to what many called “antiquated” funding formulas that rely on outdated population numbers and a 50,000-person threshold as a basis for distribution.

Chelsea received $28.5 million, Everett got $33.3 million, Methuen gets $26.3 million and Randolph was allotted $21 million, according to a press release from the Baker administration.

The money came just two days after U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren pressured state leaders to make good on their “promise” to aid the short-changed communities.

Massachusetts received $5.3 billion in unrestricted American Rescue Plan aid on May 19.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3uSAChZ