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Panel backs municipal grant assistance program to train local officials and subsidize grant writers
Summary
The committee reported House Bill 1560 to the floor by a 15‑11 vote; the bill would establish a Municipal Grant Assistance Program at the Department of Community and Economic Development to provide grant‑writing services and training to eligible municipalities.
At a meeting of the House Local Government Committee, members voted to report House Bill 1560, sponsored by Representative Salisbury, which would establish the Municipal Grant Assistance Program within the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to provide financial assistance for grant‑writing services and training to municipalities that lack staff capacity or meet other eligibility criteria.
Under the bill, a municipality is eligible for a grant to obtain grant‑writing services if it has no employee whose primary responsibility is grant writing and if it either has adopted or implemented an active strategic planning program or Act 47 recovery plan, or if at least 25% of the municipality’s census tracts are designated as low‑income census tracts. The bill would create a Municipal Grant Assistance Program Fund in the state treasury consisting of appropriated funds and funding continuing for program purposes; DCED may pay administrative expenses from the fund and must issue implementation guidelines within 90 days of the bill’s effective date.
Sponsor Representative Salisbury said the bill seeks to correct inequities in state grant distribution by helping smaller and low‑income municipalities “learn to fish” — to identify grant opportunities, prepare applications, and manage awards. Salisbury described a district study showing large per‑capita differences in state grant funding across municipalities and argued the program would increase equitable access to state grants.
Committee members, including Representative Sabi and Chairman Miller, supported the idea as a means to help municipalities without managers or dedicated grant staff compete for state funds and to avoid downward fiscal spirals that can lead to receivership under Act 47. Representative Haddock asked whether the five‑year reporting requirement is an evaluation rather than a sunset; Salisbury said the five‑year report to the General Assembly is intended as an evaluation of effectiveness and not an automatic program sunset.
Chairman Miller withdrew two proposed amendments; the committee then took a roll call and reported the bill to the floor by a 15‑11 vote. The bill would require the Local Government Commission to report on program funding and effectiveness within five years of enactment.
