Boston City Council unanimously accepts $120.8 million federal CARES Act grant

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6069 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

Boston City Council passes $120.8 million CARES Act grant and advances facial recognition ban. The full 13-member council voted unanimously Wednesday to accept $120,853,359.10 from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, with at-large Councilor Kenzie Bach, chair of Ways and Means, stressing the funds must cover only pandemic-related expenditures by December 31 and cannot replace general revenue. A separate $50,000 Boston Foundation grant to the Elderly Commission to address elder financial insecurity also passed unanimously.

The council referred two surveillance ordinances — a facial recognition ban filed by at-large Councilor Michelle Wu and District 5 Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, and a companion Surveillance Oversight and Information Sharing Ordinance filed by Arroyo and Council President Kim Janey — to the Committee on Government Operations, with Wu warning that the city's existing camera software contract expires within days and a pending vendor upgrade includes a facial recognition patch. The council also confirmed 12 mayoral appointments to city architectural conservation and landmark district commissions and passed a $491,316 federal opioid response grant to the Boston Fire Department.

In the full story:

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Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6069 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.