Pappas and Craig Hold Press Conference to Discuss New Hampshire Priorities for Upcoming COVID-19 Relief Package

Today Representative Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig held a press conference to discuss New Hampshire priorities for the upcoming COVID-19 relief package. They were joined by State Senator and Vice-Chair of Southern New Hampshire Services Lou D'Allesandro, and Co-Owner and CEO of 360 Intel Tyler Goodwin.

During the press conference participants discussed the lost revenue and budget shortfalls affecting Manchester and cities and towns across the state, and the importance of Congress' next COVID-19 relief package providing flexible relief funding directly to local governments and support for small businesses.

The House passed the Heroes Act on May 15, which would provide $1.5 billion in direct assistance to New Hampshire communities and counties. Last week Senate Republicans announced their proposal, which does not include significant support for local government and many of the other resources needed to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"New Hampshire needs more federal assistance to sustain our efforts to beat this virus, make sure our communities can weather the storm and families can pay their rent and their mortgages on time, and support our frontline workers and our social safety net," said Congressman Chris Pappas. "The House passed the Heroes Act nearly three months ago and Senate Republicans just recently got around to releasing their plan last week - and to say that it was inadequate would be an understatement. Over the last nearly three months, thousands more have died and countless more have gotten sick. Many have lost their jobs or have been unable to reopen their businesses. The uncertainty makes planning extraordinarily difficult for local governments in particular, and we need serious investment in our local governments to prevent tax increases and avoid layoffs of essential employees or cuts to critical services."

"Prior to this pandemic, Manchester was thriving. Now, because of the unknowns as a result of COVID-19, I'm concerned about what lies ahead in the City of Manchester," said Mayor Joyce Craig. "In an effort to reduce the financial burden on our citizens and businesses, local governments have absorbed many costs, which has resulted in a significant reduction in revenues, including the City of Manchester, which is down about $3.5 million. People in Manchester and all over the country are struggling, and cities need to be increasing services that are offered to residents, not decreasing them."

"I'm Vice Chair of a community service program, a CAP agency. That CAP agency is responsible for taking care of thousands of people in Hillsborough and Rockingham County. Their food needs, their housing needs, their school needs," said Senator Lou D'Allesandro, Vice-Chair of Southern New Hampshire Services. "All of these things need future help from the federal government. What we're doing at the state level can only work if the federal government puts together another package. People are in desperate trouble… we hope that Congress gets back into session and get something to us as soon as possible."

"I want to thank the three great leaders that we have here for their hard work to attempt to keep small businesses like mine and workers around the state, held over during this unprecedented time," said Tyler Goodwin, Co-Owner and CEO. "We've been the beneficiaries at 360 Intel of government funds, such as the PPP plan, which has helped us stem the tide and keep us in business and in our employees afloat. But we need more. When that originally was passed it was really for an eight week hold over period, obviously the situation has dragged out much longer than anybody anticipated. So increased flexibility with the PPP plan which was passed in the Heroes act as well as additional rounds of funding if the economy is still going to be ground to a halt for the foreseeable future, is what we need to make sure small businesses like mine survive this pandemic."

Pappas led the call for House leadership to include robust funding for local governments in the next COVID-19 response package, and thanks to his advocacy the Heroes Act includes more than $1.5 billion in direct assistance to New Hampshire localities and $3.5 billion to the state government. Manchester is estimated to receive $127,617,663; Londonderry would receive $12,985,284; Conway would receive $5,068,319, Rochester would receive $18,256,663; and Laconia would receive $8,142,092. These funds are not currently included in the proposal introduced by Senate Republicans.

The Heroes Act also includes a measure Pappas fought for that enhances the new employee retention tax credit and encourages employers to keep employees on payroll, allowing 60 million Americans to remain connected to their workplaces, and continue receiving paychecks and benefits.