Pictured are Ohio Democratic Congresspersons Marcia L. Fudge (wearing tan brown suit )(D-11) and Marcy Kaptur (wearing teal suit) (D-9), and Greater Cleveland RTA (GCRTA) CEO and General Manager India Birdsong (wearing Black suit)
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's
most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog, both also top in black digital news in the Midwest.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.
WASHINGTON, D.C./CLEVELAND, Ohio –Ohio Congresswomen Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) and Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Democrats whose congressional districts include parts of Cleveland, announced Thursday roughly $111 million for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, the federal relief act passed last month by Congress that includes in the legislation $25 billion to support transit agencies and their workers nationwide.
The federal lawmakers said that funding from the CARES Act will be used in part to protect the jobs of the employees of greater Cleveland's transit agency like GCRTA bus drivers and will fund their paychecks during the coronavirus pandemic, a public heath emergency, they say.
Ohio, which has 88 counties statewide and currently has some confirmed 7, 628 coronavirus cases and 346 deaths, will ultimately receive $474,118,324 under the program.
The second largest of Ohio's counties, Cuyahoga County is 29 percent Black and includes Cleveland and several of its eastern suburbs, and has reported 1,281 cases and 39 deaths, 335 of those cases in Cleveland, a largely Black major American city led by four-term mayor Frank Jackson, the city's third Black mayor.
Cleveland has only six coronavirus deaths under Jackson's leadership, if statistics on the deadly disease are attributed at all to local and county, and state and federal leaders or, in other words, mayors, county officials, governors and the president.
Worldwide there are 2.1 million cases and more than 137,000 deaths, the U.S. leading all other countries with 646,398 cases and 28,640 deaths, not good numbers for incumbent Republican president Donald Trump, who will face presumptive Democratic nominee former vice president Joe Biden for a November general election showdown over who will be the president of the United States in 2021.
The Federal Transit Association (FTA) has specifically directed agencies that they can use the CARES Act dollars for emergency protective measures to eliminate or lessen threats to public health and safety in bus shelters and other high traffic areas, and for personal protective health equipment and other protective measures.
“As the spread of COVID-19 contributes to reduced ridership and cut backs for transit systems across the country, we must ensure that residents in the greater Cleveland area can continue to rely on RTA to get to and from work, grocery stores, pharmacies and other locations deemed essential during the pandemic,” said Rep. Fudge, a former chair of the congressional Black caucus and former national president of Delta, Sigma Theta Sorority Inc who leads Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district, which includes Cleveland. “The CARES package was a good start to supporting our regional transportation system and its employees, but more may be needed."
The longest serving woman in Congress, Rep Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose ninth congressional district extends to Cleveland, said financial assistance from the federal government is crucial to the survival of transit agencies nationally at this critical time in American history.
She applauded the patience and commitment of its bus drivers and other employees during the coronavirus outbreak.
“At a time when ridership is down but the health risks for workers have increased, these funds offer a critical bridge for GCRTA to keep our community connected while prioritizing public health,” said Rep. Kaptur. “We owe a deep debt of gratitude to GCRTA employees who are still on the job despite the risks to their own safety."
Transit agencies across the U.S. have all seen a dramatic drop in revenues as social distancing has been implemented nationally.
Greater Cleveland has been impacted like other major metropolitan areas hit by the deadly virus as stay-at-home orders issued in Ohio and 42 other states by governors and public health officials, whether necessary or not, induce fear, perpetuate economic decline, and create further transportation barriers to poor people, minorities in general, and Black people, Cleveland's RTA buses seeing hardly no riders as the pandemic begins to flatten its curve.
"On behalf of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) we'd like to thank Representative Marcy Kaptur and Representative Marcia Fudge and the Ohio Congressional delegation for your prompt support of the CARES Act," said GCRTA CEO and General Manager India Birdsong. "As hundreds of thousands of greater Clevelanders follow the state and federal mandates, including the governor's stay-at-home orders, ridership has dropped, and GCRTA has seen a significant loss in sales tax and fare revenue, as a result."
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog, both also top in black digital news in the Midwest.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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