August 21st, 2025
Spanish Language Version (PDF)
County Executive Adam Bello announced today that Monroe County is joining other municipalities from across the country in filing suit against the Trump Administration, challenging its policies that penalize local governments and threaten their grant funding over their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion departments, policies, or related programs. Monroe County’s grant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), necessary for critical infrastructure improvements at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC), was recently jeopardized by the Trump Administration’s addition of harsh and punitive grant conditions that seek to undermine lawful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs—and raise the threat of potential criminal penalties.
“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,”
As a result of the County’s commitment to M/WBE procurement and lawful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, and to maintaining its DEI Department that complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, the County determined that joining this litigation was the only viable option to protect its FAA funding.
By joining this lawsuit, Monroe County is seeking to defend the rights and interests of its residents, ensure local taxpayer dollars are used responsibly, and defend the community’s ability to govern effectively. This lawsuit will also protect countless local jobs for Monroe County’s highly skilled workforce that are threatened by the elimination of federal grant funding needed to complete critical infrastructure projects.
“Monroe County, and local governments across country, should not be forced to choose between doing what is right for their residents and receiving critical federal funding we are entitled to,” added Bello. “This lawsuit is about protecting the taxpayers of Monroe County, travelers who use the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport, and important jobs that are created and sustained from these grant-funded projects.”
