Without advance notice or explanation federal funds were frozen by Evilism-Trumpziism and harm caused to millions
Dateline Maine Monitor: On Tuesday morning, Claire Berkowitz, the CEO of the Midcoast Maine Community Action in Bath, Maine got some unusual and frightening news: her organization couldn’t access the federal funding it needed to run its Head Start program. Echo report by Josh Keefe, Rose Lundy, Emily Bader, Stephanie McFeeters in Maine Monitor.
Soon, she was hearing the same thing from her counterparts across Maine.
“My first thought was ‘How can that be❗❓’” said Berkowitz, who also serves as the chair of the statewide Maine Community Action Partnership. “This is money that was already approved and appropriated by Congress for these exact expenses.”
Head Start, which serves nearly 3,000 children in Maine, was one of several programs whose operations appeared to be in jeopardy last week when the Trump administration abruptly announced a freeze on federal payments for grants and other programs.
The freeze caused an outcry, and was temporarily halted by a federal judge right before it was set to go into effect on Tuesday evening.
The chaotic sequence of events, and lack of clarity from the administration, left groups across Maine confused and anxious.
Steven Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association, said that even though the federal funding freeze memo was rescinded, it still created a lot of uncertainty about the future of programs and grants that rely on federal funding.
“Nothing is worse than uncertainty,” Michaud said. “You don’t want a payment cut or to lose money, but the uncertainty is in some ways worse because you don’t know how to manage or proceed on whatever you’re doing.”
Initially, his primary concern was the impact on Medicaid payments and processing, but the Trump administration later clarified that Medicaid, along with Medicare, would not be affected.
“My first thought was ‘How can that be❗❓’” said Berkowitz, who also serves as the chair of the statewide Maine Community Action Partnership. “This is money that was already approved and appropriated by Congress for these exact expenses.”
Head Start, which serves nearly 3,000 children in Maine, was one of several programs whose operations appeared to be in jeopardy last week when the Trump administration abruptly announced a freeze on federal payments for grants and other programs.
The freeze caused an outcry, and was temporarily halted by a federal judge right before it was set to go into effect on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, the administration rescinded the order behind the freeze but said it stood by its intention to have agencies evaluate their programs to ensure they align with Donald Trump’s priorities❓❓.
This includes complying with executive orders to halt federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs and undo protections for transgender people.
This includes complying with executive orders to halt federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs and undo protections for transgender people.
The chaotic sequence of events, and lack of clarity from the administration, left groups across Maine confused and anxious.
Steven Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association, said that even though the federal funding freeze memo was rescinded, it still created a lot of uncertainty about the future of programs and grants that rely on federal funding.
“Nothing is worse than uncertainty,” Michaud said. “You don’t want a payment cut or to lose money, but the uncertainty is in some ways worse because you don’t know how to manage or proceed on whatever you’re doing.”
Initially, his primary concern was the impact on Medicaid payments and processing, but the Trump administration later clarified that Medicaid, along with Medicare, would not be affected.
But there were other impacts, such as a bed capacity management system it was working on with the state that would have made it easier to find open beds — now paused.
Maine’s hospitals receive grants for all kinds of research, which may be on hold due to the uncertainty created by the funding freeze. These research grants don’t make up a significant portion of a hospital’s budget, but they are “meaningful,” Michaud said.
“That’s the kind of stuff where you go ‘Are we still going? Do we hit pause? Do we pull the plug?’ That’s the uncertainty it creates,” he said.
Michaud said his counterparts across the country were struggling to figure out the full impact.
“It was so brand new, nobody’s got a good tally,” he said.
‘Crisis mode’: It’s hard to say exactly how much Maine funding would have been — or could still be — jeopardized by the freeze and the associated review.
Federal grants constitute around one-third of state budgets, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services said the state government received and spent approximately $4.8 billion in federal funds in fiscal year 2024. This was just the money that went to the state, not money that was passed through to nonprofits, the University of Maine system or quasi-state agencies such as MaineHousing, nor funds that went directly to other government entities.
“Because the Trump Administration’s memo through the Office of Management and Budget was not clear about which sources of Federal funding it sought to limit, it is not clear how much of that $4.8 billion in Federal funding would have been impacted,” Dept of AFS communications director Sharon Huntley wrote in an email.
The memo was accompanied by a list of around 2,600 programs under review, including: Preventing Trafficking of Girls; Opioid Affected Youth Initiative; Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities; Rural Business Development Grant; Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program; Disaster Unemployment Assistance; Indian Health Service Behavioral Health; Boating Safety Financial Assistance; Assistance to Firefighters Grant; Flood Insurance; and much more.
Maine’s hospitals receive grants for all kinds of research, which may be on hold due to the uncertainty created by the funding freeze. These research grants don’t make up a significant portion of a hospital’s budget, but they are “meaningful,” Michaud said.
“That’s the kind of stuff where you go ‘Are we still going? Do we hit pause? Do we pull the plug?’ That’s the uncertainty it creates,” he said.
Michaud said his counterparts across the country were struggling to figure out the full impact.
“It was so brand new, nobody’s got a good tally,” he said.
‘Crisis mode’: It’s hard to say exactly how much Maine funding would have been — or could still be — jeopardized by the freeze and the associated review.
Federal grants constitute around one-third of state budgets, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services said the state government received and spent approximately $4.8 billion in federal funds in fiscal year 2024. This was just the money that went to the state, not money that was passed through to nonprofits, the University of Maine system or quasi-state agencies such as MaineHousing, nor funds that went directly to other government entities.
“Because the Trump Administration’s memo through the Office of Management and Budget was not clear about which sources of Federal funding it sought to limit, it is not clear how much of that $4.8 billion in Federal funding would have been impacted,” Dept of AFS communications director Sharon Huntley wrote in an email.
The memo was accompanied by a list of around 2,600 programs under review, including: Preventing Trafficking of Girls; Opioid Affected Youth Initiative; Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities; Rural Business Development Grant; Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program; Disaster Unemployment Assistance; Indian Health Service Behavioral Health; Boating Safety Financial Assistance; Assistance to Firefighters Grant; Flood Insurance; and much more.
Labels: Maine Hospital Association, Maine Monitor, Steven Michaud
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 9:50 AM
|
0 comments
