EXECUTIVE COUNCILOR JANET STEVENS DELIVERED $4 MILLION TO TOWN OF RYE

Water and Infrastructure Projects
Safety and Education
Federal Relief Aid
Overall Service 

$5.7 MILLION STATE OF EMERGENCY

Executive Councilor Janet Stevens promised residents that she would fight for clean drinking water, in the 32 towns and cities she represents – and she delivered.  In addition, Councilor Stevens has supported and advocated for additional funding for protecting wetlands, rivers and lakes, coastal waters, and dam infrastructure.  In addition, she has advocated for private well testing and remediation.

She has worked with municipal leaders and residents of State and Federal funding sources, advising on appropriate use of grant dollars. There are a myriad of programs to sustain and protect the integrity of New Hampshire water sources including the American Rescue Plan Act, PFAS Remediation Loan Fund, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

In American Rescue Plan Act and Drinking Water & Groundwater Trust Funds, $737,000 for improvements has been awarded to the Town of Rye for improving public water and stormwater systems and additional funding for the Wallis Road Main Replacement.

More than half of New Hampshire residents rely on private, residential wells for home use. Councilor Stevens supported and has promoted $5.5 million to assist residents with wells contaminated with PFAS and owners experiencing irreversible water quantity and quality problems (For residents who have not had their wells tested, there is support through the NH Department of Environmental Services Southern NH PFOA Investigation Private Well-Testing Request Form Survey.  For information on the Water Well Rebate program please see the NH DES Water Well Rebate Page.

The Town of Rye has received $2,261,037 for much-needed infrastructure improvements including a stone walled, concrete culvert replacement and Transportation Alternative Program funds, which will improve safety on Washington Road through a sidewalk, shoulder expansion, bike lane and crosswalk from the Rye Junior High to the town’s Public Library.

As an Executive Councilor, Councilor Stevens serves on the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation (GACIT), which is responsible for updating New Hampshire’s Ten-Year Transportation Improvement Plan (TYP) every two years.  To assess/collect public comments and feedback on the projects and themes of the draft TYP for 2023-2032, she participated in GACIT Public Meetings, and conducted five hearings throughout the district. 

District Three has 63 separate road, bridge, active transportation, and airport improvement projects in the TYP which are fully funded at $766 million dollars including the approval of $418 million by the Executive Council on December 8, 2021 and $121 million in debt service for the benefits of the I-93 expansion projects.

Safety & Education

At the June 1, 2022, Executive Council meeting Councilor Stevens raised concerns on the balance of the School Infrastructure Fund, which was initially funded at $30 million yet following demand in enhancing safety at schools throughout the state, the fund balance dropped to $3 million. Councilor Stevens urged the Commissioners of Education and Public Safety to prioritize school safety and requested a follow-up resulting in an additional $10 million to the School Infrastructure Fund, which allows public and private schools to access funding for three security strategies: surveillance, access control and emergency alerting.  A total of $143,000 was awarded to Rye schools for safety improvements, which was the second-highest disbursement for District Three.

Executive Councilor Stevens proudly supported all Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds I, II, III (phase 1 and 2) and Supplemental Public School Response Fund (SPRF) which delivered a total of $244,707 for Rye Schools.  Both the ESSER and SPRF funds were made available to assist schools remain operational while covering unanticipated costs with safe opening and operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

State-wide, Executive Councilor Stevens has supported families and the youngest of learners in gaining access to safe, nurturing childcare, advocating for $112 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to stabilize New Hampshire’s child care sector.  More than 87% of these funds went directly to child care programs to remain operational during the pandemic, strengthen the child care workforce while increase access to affordable child care.

Relief Aid

Under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) the Town of Rye received $572,652 in Local Fiscal Recovery funds, which were disbursed in two tranches, to meet pandemic response funds.

During the State of Emergency, the Governor’s Office Emergency Relief and Recovery allocated more than $5.7 million dollars to more than 100 Rye-based public and private entities and nonprofits through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) ACT.  First Responder stipends, Seacoast Science Center, childcare providers, healthcare providers, long term care facilities and small businesses received funding to assist with the challenges of the pandemic.

Overall Service

Executive Councilor Stevens is proud of her record in supporting all New Hampshire residents throughout and before the pandemic.   She has supported 100% of ARPA funds requiring acceptance and expenditure by the Council, including every COVID-19 public health request. In her first year of service, she approved more than $1 billion in contracts. 

She has advocated for: 

$112 million in funds to stabilize New Hampshire’s child care system by providing necessary program funding and wage enhancements

$62 million for fuel assistance programs.

$440,273,544 for Behavioral Health, which includes funding for substance use disorder treatment.

$31,956,345 for our state’s long term care providers – while working to raise awareness of the increase of adult elder abuse cases in New Hampshire. Read more on the elder abuse crisis here in the NH Union Leader.

$100 million was approved to reduce New Hampshire’s housing crisis. Councilor Stevens worked with Governor Sununu and the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority in getting approval for InVest NH, which makes $100 million available to accelerate the approval and construction of affordable workforce housing in New Hampshire. It is a new, one-time flexible resource to benefit small and large projects across the state plus the municipalities in which they will be located that will assist builders with the completion of housing projects which are at risk of failing completion thanks to record inflation.