Gettysburg Mayor Rita Frealing and nearly 50 other community leaders from across Pennsylvania met with senior White House officials and President Biden yesterday at the Communities in Action: Building a Better Pennsylvania event at the White House.
Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Senior Advisor to the President Anita Dunn, Senior Advisor and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Julie Rodriguez, Senior Advisor and Director of Public Engagement Keisha Lance Bottoms, Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, Senior Advisor and White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Gabe Amo, were also invited to the event, as were U.S. Congresswoman Madeline Dean (PA-4) and U.S. Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5).
Frealing said the half-day meeting was designed to help leaders learn about how the funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) had positively affected people in communities across the state and to provide ideas for how money still in the pipeline should be spent.
“It was a chance to network with local officials,” said Frealing. She particularly noted how funding from the ARPA Child Tax Act helped children in Gettysburg. Frealing said that at the daycare center at the YWCA of Gettysburg and Adams County alone, increases in the child tax credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child helped 135 families with daycare expenses.
“A lot of money was also spent on water and sewer projects,” she said.
“I was really amazed to be invited,” said Frealing. “I met a lot of people including the State Director of Arts and representatives from the Latino community. Frealing said many of the state representatives she interacted with were expecting to visit Gettysburg in the future.
Featured image: Mayor Frealing with Second Gentleman of the United States Doug Emhoff.
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.