Austin council sides with individuals over businesses in coronavirus relief spending

After weeks of contemplating how best to direct more than $270 million in federal and local coronavirus relief funds, the Austin City Council decided Thursday it would be better to focus on individuals hurt by the economic crisis than on struggling businesses.

A unanimous vote opened up $70 million to individual Austinites for food, rent and utilities, and it gave City Manager Spencer Cronk discretion to allocate even more if he determines that amount to be insufficient.

The approved spending was an amendment from Council Member Greg Casar to a preliminary framework the council had agreed to last week. Casar’s plan added $12 million to the RISE Fund, which the city created for individuals affected by the financial crisis, and in doing so removed $9 million that had been earmarked for small businesses.

Emphasizing a preference for individual assistance, Council Member Delia Garza told her colleagues, “it’s a quick way we can help low income and minority communities.” Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison pushed Cronk to make the money available as soon as possible, which the city manager said he’d do.

Discussion about the spending highlighted the first of two council meetings on Thursday and included comments from dozens of community members who came forward in the virtual setting with hardship stories to illustrate why they thought channeling the money to individuals was in the city’s best interest.

Some of the speakers, fueled by ongoing nightly protests in Austin against excessive police force, also called on council members to defund the Police Department and to direct that money instead to private citizens.

Discussing the protests

A special City Council meeting on the protests followed its regular meeting and included registrations from several hundred community members who wished to give comments. Following the last speaker, the council was expected to take up a proposal on whether to accept $430,685 in grant funding from the state to continue the Austin Police Department’s auto theft prevention project.

On Friday, the council plans to scrutinize tactics employed by police officers that left at least three protesters badly wounded when they were struck by less-lethal ammunition. The council -- led by Harper-Madison, who is African American, and Casar and Garza, who are Hispanic -- is expected to explore reform measures that they believe would lead to better relations between police and Austin’s communities of color.

Where aid goes

Overall, the $271.6 million allocated Thursday drops into three buckets: emergency response ($105.5 million); medical and public health needs ($62.9 million); and economic support ($103.2). About $170 million came from the federal CARES Act, with the remaining $100 million a mixture of Federal Emergency Management Agency aid and local funds.

Before voting in favor of the spending plan, Council Members Allison Alter and Kathie Tovo expressed concerns about taking funding away from local small businesses. After expecting to get $25.5 million in assistance in the original spending framework, small businesses now are getting $16.5 million.

Alter and Tovo suggested that the same individuals who will benefit from the increased direct assistance could end up being harmed if businesses close and the job market dries up.

An additional $3.5 million was cut from the original spending plan for a fund for musicians, ostensibly because the musicians are eligible for the RISE dollars. The music fund now gets $5 million.

The $70 million set aside for individual assistance includes about $26 million that the council had previously approved. The new spending includes $12 million for RISE, $18.7 million for rent, $7.9 million for public health, $3.2 million for food assistance and $2 million for workforce development.

CORONAVIRUS IN TEXAS: What we know, latest updates

Covering the coronavirus pandemic

The American-Statesman is making this coverage available to nonsubscribers at no cost as a public service during the coronavirus outbreak.

Please support local journalism by subscribing to the Statesman at statesman.com/subscribe.

Want to stay updated on the latest news about coronavirus in Austin? Subscribe to our Coronavirus Update newsletter at statesman.com/newsletters.