News and Tribune: “‘It’s very exciting to see these project leads be able to move forward and hopefully we’ll see some actual progress and action items and we’ll continue to hear from those project leads,’ RDA board chair Dana Huber said.”
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today celebrated how President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan continues to deliver for Indiana’s economy. This time, the relief package helped the state’s READI program invest in key projects across Southern Indiana – including investments in the Salem Municipal Airport, unifying trails across counties, and broadband access. These READI projects were approved last week by the Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority – totaling about $47 million. It’s without a doubt Indiana Democrats are delivering this better future across Indiana.
In contrast, the Indiana Republican Party – including U.S. Senator Todd Young and U.S Congressman Trey Hollingsworth – said “NO” to these investments. In fact, Indiana GOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer called these investments “socialism” – claiming the Indiana GOP’s opposition to READI was a “great campaign to run on”. The Indiana GOP continues to show they have no plans for the state’s future – just partisanship.
Read more about the American Rescue Plan delivering for Hoosiers below:
News and Tribune: Our Southern Indiana decides on funding process for READI grants
“Though no money has officially been allocated toward READI projects, Our Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) did approve a funding plan on Friday to disperse the federal funds.
Our Southern Indiana submitted $85 million worth of projects for its Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) application but was awarded the maximum amount of $50 million.
“We’ve been talking about this for quite some time…It’s very exciting to see these project leads be able to move forward and hopefully we’ll see some actual progress and action items and we’ll continue to hear from those project leads,” RDA board chair Dana Huber said.
The six Tier One projects are:
• READI Broadband Plan for $100,000
• Salem Municipal Airport for $253,800
• Lake Salinda for $280,000
• The ONE Fund for $125,000
• Align Southern Indiana Master Trails Plan for $70,000
• Southern Indiana Youth Sports Complex for $24,000
In all, Cochran said that the Tier One projects are expected to use just over $1 million of the READI funds.
Tier Two projects include those with costs that fall within $300,000 and $5 million. These projects will add up to about $22 million of the READI funds.
Projects that requested more than $5 million fall under Tier Three and in the RDA-approved plan will receive 52% of their funding from the READI fund.
Tier Three projects will make up a little more than $24 million of the READI funds.
Combined, the three tiers make up the $47 million left of the $50 million READI fund after the administrative fees of $3 million.”
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