Franchot: Maryland 'deplorably inadequate' at distributing pandemic aid

State Associations in the News

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Maryland

American Rescue Plan Act

#Relief4Charities

Heather Iliff, president and CEO of Maryland Nonprofits, an umbrella group, expressed frustration that Baltimore City is the only jurisdiction to begin releasing aid to nonprofits, months after the funds were first announced.

“We actually spent $5,000 of our own money to hire a consultant to write a guide for local governments on how to give grants to nonprofits through ARPA,” Iliff said. “They're all completely confused.”

She said many of the smaller nonprofits outside of Baltimore City have used up their last federal Payroll Protection Program funds and are looking for help to maintain their operations. The gap, Iliff said, is disproportionately affecting communities of color and nonprofits run by people of color.

Meanwhile, some types of nonprofits that are not classified by the IRS as charities — such as chambers of commerce, unions and professional associations — were “inexplicably” left out of federal pandemic relief programs, she said.

“Anything that the state can do to help meet the needs of those businesses — you know, it's true that they're not, ‘charitable nonprofits,’ but they are businesses,” Iliff said. “So if you can be a Chuck E. Cheese and get the money, why can't you be a chamber of commerce and get the money, right?”

Source Name: 

WYPR

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https://www.wypr.org/wypr-news/2021-11-09/franchot-maryland-deplorably-i...