Louisville Metro Council approves spending plan for $40 million grant pulled after ethics case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Metro Council has approved a spending plan for $40 million in federal grant funds stripped from a Louisville nonprofit at the center of a high-profile ethics case.

A council committee approved the plan, which was submitted by Mayor Craig Greenberg and has bounced around the council since late October, last week.

The $40 million grant was at the center of the ethics investigation into Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19. Greenberg stripped the funding from the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, or CEOc, and will now divide the money with workforce development, parks and libraries.

Groups such as AMPED, which focuses on health care job training in west Louisville, Metro United Way, UofL, the Louisville Urban League, and ElderServe will get $20 million of the funding.

The organizations already had been allocated money from the CEOc, which received the $40 million in COVID-19 relief aid last year for a sweeping workforce training initiative. But Greenberg revoked the grant after the ethics verdict against Piagentini, who backed the spending ordinance for the healthcare group and later took a job there.

The new plan also sets aside $10 million for maintenance at parks across the city, and $9 million for the city's libraries, which will help reopen locations in the Fern Creek and Parkland neighborhoods. The remaining $1 million would go to CEOc to reimburse it for money already spent.

Here’s what the groups are proposing and the funding approved Thursday:

AMPED ($13 million). Besides creating the technology training center, AMPED would recruit and train 340 residents from western Louisville neighborhoods and place 213 students in healthcare technology jobs. It also would work to get 40 students into apprenticeships and another 40 into paid internships.

Metro United Way ($1.5 million). It aims to get 250 people into financial coaching, with 60% of them becoming more financially stable.

University of Louisville ($1.3 million). U of L plans to train 100 people who will in turn train others in digital literacy areas.

Louisville Urban League ($3.3 million). The Urban League would enroll up to 200 people a year in career assessment programs for three years; give 600 people "barrier removal" services; and help 300 people land jobs.

ElderServe ($750,000). Its goal includes hiring new employees to work in its adult day care program and expand its services. Findley said his organization will pursue other funding resources to make that happen.

The federal funds must be committed by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

This story may be updated.

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