How can local leadership spur structural economic change? 

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provided state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments with an unprecedented $350 billion in flexible funds to use for pandemic relief and longer-term, transformational investments. The Institute’s research report Advancing Equity with the American Rescue Plan Act’s Local Recovery Funds describes how ARPA funds are sparking local innovation and catalyzing local policy movements throughout the country. 

Please join us for the first installment in our webinar series, “From Local Innovation to Systemic Change: ARPA Investments Building Toward an Equitable Economy.” Co-hosted by the Institute’s Budget Equity Project and the Health and Political Economy Project, this series will showcase ARPA-fueled policy movements that hold promise to drive large-scale policy shifts to increase economic and health equity.

Part one of the series will showcase the proliferation of local medical debt cancellation efforts and discuss debt abolishment as a pathway toward systemic changes to prevent medical debt and ensure affordable, quality health care for all. During the first webinar, local leaders and advocates will share how they directed ARPA and other public funds toward erasing residents’ medical debts, the direct benefits of those investments, and how they are working toward comprehensive solutions to the medical debt crisis.

Speakers:

• State Rep. Michele Grim (D-Toledo), District 43, Ohio State House of Representatives
• Samuel Delgado, Programs Manager, Central Florida Jobs with Justice
• Dr. Naman Shah, Director, Division of Medical and Dental Affairs, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
• Dr. Victor Roy, Director, Health and Political Economy Project, Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy
• Sarah Treuhaft, Director of Policy and Partnerships, Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy (moderator)

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Presented by the Budget Equity Project and the Health and Political Economy Project (Initiative’s of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy)