The D.C. Council in early July created a new $100 million grant program to help businesses struggling amid the pandemic, building off an earlier round of microgrants. But don’t go applying for the second round just yet: the city doesn’t have the money to actually fund it.
Why? D.C. officials say it comes down to a lack of federal funding, a familiar problem.
The new program, as created by Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, D-Ward 5, relies on money the District received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the federal coronavirus stimulus legislation. Even though the city spent $33 million of those funds on a first round of business grants and millions more on health and safety measures, McDuffie expected there would still be plenty of the total $490 million left over for at least $100 million in new grants.
