Remarks on Fiscal Year 2022 Budget — June 24, 2021
“Thank you Council President, and good afternoon, everyone.
“The most significant thing to me about the budget we just passed is that it represents a victory for everyone in the fight to end gun violence here in the City of Philadelphia.
“There is no more urgent priority than addressing this violence — both for people living in the neighborhoods where it’s a daily occurrence, and for the health of our city as a whole.
“Having to be hyper vigilant every time you leave home, feeling afraid to let your kids play outside, feeling trapped in your home — this is trauma. No one should have to live like this, but Black and Brown neighborhoods have been struggling through this violence for years now.
“So I want to thank all of the advocates, the Council President and my Council colleagues who worked shoulder-to-shoulder to make these historic investments happen in this budget.
“We won major new funding — $68 million— for programs and services that will stabilize neighborhoods, prevent violence, improve families’ lives, and address the trauma that has been circulating through our communities for too long.
“In particular I want to highlight the amount of new money that will be going to grassroots organizations that have been on the ground for years, doing the work day in and day out, to reach the small number of individuals who are actually involved in this violence.
“$20 million in additional funding will be going to these groups — that’s a 10 fold increase in the amount we’re distributing through targeted community investment grants. And that’s huge.
“At the same time, whether or not we will look back on this moment as a turning point in our fight against gun violence depends on the way we put these investments into action.
“Some of the $68 million will go towards initiatives like blight remediation and jobs programs. Programs like these are proven to alleviate violence — but only if they are targeted towards the communities that need them most, and towards the individuals at highest risk of participating in gun violence.
“Ensuring that these investments are targeted appropriately will require rigorous and frequent measurement and evaluation — along with a great deal of transparency, on behalf of the mayor’s administration. I look forward to working with my colleagues and with the Mayor’s Office to make that happen.
“And, as significant as this investment is, we don’t want this to be a one-time event. Over the years, we’ve seen a clear correlation between disinvestment in vulnerable neighborhoods and a rise in violence.
“I hope that the Mayor’s office will recognize that to prevent violence, we need to make significant investments over time to create and build prosperous neighborhoods.
“Those organizations I mentioned earlier? The ones that are on the ground, doing the real work to save lives, to heal and to build community? They should not have to operate on a shoestring budgets. They should not have to fight and plead for support year after year. Sustainable funding will help break the cycle of violence in the long-term.
“I also want to say that while I’m pleased with these investments to address our city’s gun violence crisis, the tax cuts in the budget are beyond unfortunate. Millions of dollars that are being devoted to the Mayor’s wage tax cut could have gone towards any number of city programs that need additional funding to carry out their mission. In this moment when so many Philadelphians are still struggling, I cannot endorse sacrificing revenue in this way.
“But every budget is the project of a negotiation — and overall, I think we’ve landed on a budget that reflects how dire of a crisis gun violence has become in our city. And now that it’s passed, our work turns to implementation and ensuring that this money gets spent appropriately.
“So, to the residents in neighborhoods that have been terrorized by gun violence for far too long, I want to say: help is on the way.
Thank you.”
