ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The $1,400 stimulus checks headed to the bank accounts of eligible Americans isn't the only money being doled out in the newly signed "American Rescue Plan."
John Hancock and Michael Kelley interviewed St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson who said St. Louis City “is slated to get close to 500 million dollars” from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
The allocation is based on a number of factors including poverty rate, the age of the building stock, and the extent of our growth lag. The money must be spent by December 31, 2024. Among some of the area the money will go to: Homeless services, building job capacity and workforce development.
Krewson explains more in the audio at the top of this page.
She says the city has four years to spend the stimulus money – December 31, 2024 to be exact. However, like in the past, she explains that the money comes with "a lot of strings" and they're waiting for some regulations to determine if they're allowed to spend the money in some places.
"I think where most people will really see this is, we have a huge housing crisis right now. We have a lot of people that have been put out of their apartments, we're spending a lot of money on homeless services. So we'll be able to continue to do that," Krewson says. "But also, hopefully, we'll be able to really help build some job capacity. Do some workforce development. Put it into areas where people can then be more self-sufficient. That would be my goal."
Although she'll be out of office in about six weeks and may not be spending any of the money before them, she says her office will be leaving the framework of how they'd spend in the money.
"I'm sure they'll want to adopt big pieces of it because it's money going to areas where there's just a huge need," Krewson says.
Krewson says the plan also includes support to small businesses, first responders and affordable housing.
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