A $20 million Environmental Protection Agency grant for the city of Benton Harbor that was rescinded by the Trump administration this year and then later restored has been rescinded again.
Speaking to the Benton Harbor City Commission this week, Mayor Marcus Muhammad said he was recently in Washington, D.C. to seek the reinstatement of the funds.
“We were advocating for the Inflation Reduction Act, for that money to be allocated toward what it was intended under the Biden administration, which includes the $20 million grant, the Community Change Grant for the city of Benton Harbor,” Muhammad said.
However, Muhammad said the reconciliation bill in Congress “syphons” away all of that funding.
The $20 million would have been used for workforce development, energy efficiency, and community resiliency programs in Benton Harbor, but more importantly, it would have helped pay for the renovation of the Bobo Brazil Community Center.
Muhammad said he’s met with Congressman Bill Huizenga about that, and although Huizenga was opposed to the Inflation Reduction Act, he did take a look at the community center and knows the condition it’s in. Fortunately, Muhammad noted the city still has a $1.5 million state grant for work at the facility.
Marcy Hamilton with the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission tells us the $20 million grant was indeed terminated. The commission got a letter on April 30 informing it the grant no longer aligns with the EPA’s priorities. The Southwest Michigan Planning Commission was to be the direct recipient of the grant on the city’s behalf.
Hamilton says the commission did send a letter to the EPA opposing the termination.
