Monroe County is joining a suit against the Trump Administration over its withholding of federal funding.
County Executive Adam Bello says the FAA is holding back infrastructure improvement funds for the Rochester airport, over the county's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department.
In a statement, Bello says Monroe County and other municipalities shouldn't have to choose between doing the right thing and getting federal funding.
Statement from County Executive Adam Bello:
“In 2020, every Democrat and Republican in the Monroe County Legislature came together to join my administration in creating the Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – unanimously writing it into the Monroe County Charter. And less than a year later, in 2021, Legislators again came together, delivering another unanimous, bipartisan victory with the passage of Gantt’s Law, which created the County’s Minority and Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Certification and Utilization Program,” said County Executive Bello. “Under the leadership of Director David Scott, the County’s DEI Department has played a critical role in improving fairness, representation, and opportunity, ensuring every resident, from every background, has equal access to County services and a chance to thrive. Monroe County’s DEI Department supports our local veterans, ensures we are following the Americans with Disabilities Act, provides language access services, and so much more. Punishing us for that commitment is unfair, unlawful, and harmful to Monroe County taxpayers,”