While Reps. Steil and Van Orden refuse to call for an end to Trump’s attempted cuts to loans and grants , community leaders and organizations speak out about its impact 

MADISON, Wis. – While President Trump has rushed to cut federal grants and loans this week, all as part of Republicans’ plan to pay for massive tax breaks for the ultra-rich and big corporations, Wisconsin Congressmen Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden have refused to call on Trump to reverse this action. Meanwhile, community leaders and organizations across the state are speaking out. 

“President Trump’s cuts to federal grant and loan programs show the extremes he’s willing to go to in order to pay for the tax breaks he promised to the ultra-rich and big corporations,” said Opportunity Wisconsin Program Director Meghan Roh. “These cuts have led to chaos that threatens access to Head Start programs, services for homeless veterans, aid to Wisconsin farmers, and more. While Wisconsinites are speaking out about the dangerous consequences of these cuts, Congressmen Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden have refused to stand up to President Trump and support the communities they represent.”

Geri Segal the Executive Director of Family Support Center in Chippewa Falls said, “At Family Support Center, we provide lifesaving services to close to 1000 victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking every year. Those services are funded, in large part, by federal funds. A federal funding freeze would be catastrophic for our communities.”

Here’s what Wisconsinites are hearing and saying about these dangerous cuts which will hurt communities and force cuts to programs that support individuals and families in every corner of the state:

Wausau Pilot and Review: City, nonprofits scramble amid Trump’s executive order suspending federal grants

  • Wausau City Council President Lisa Rasmussen said what the pause means in the short-term for communities is “uncertainty and chaos.”
     
  • “That should alarm residents on both sides of the aisle,” Rasmussen said. “Almost everyone has some connection to some federally funded agency or program even if it is not direct benefits. One would think a directive for federal agencies to review programming could’ve been done without creating total confusion nationwide.”
     
  • This pause affects various programs, including the $100,000 designated for general administration and the $50,000 allocated for homeowner rehabilitation loans aimed at assisting low- to moderate-income residents. Other impacted initiatives comprise the $35,000 awarded to Habitat for Humanity’s Critical Home Repairs Program, $75,000 for curb ramp reconstruction to meet ADA standards, and $20,000 for school crossing improvements at Bridge Street and 6th Avenue.
     
  • Public service projects facing uncertainty include $10,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mentoring center, $15,000 for CASA of Marathon County’s advocate program, $20,000 for Children’s Imaginarium’s Access for All initiative, and $25,000 for Community Partners Campus to support homeless residents. The duration of the funding freeze remains unclear, leaving the future of these local projects in question.
     
  • Jane Graham Jennings, executive director of The Women’s Community in Wausau, said federal grant dollars make up about 20 percent of the agency’s total budget.
     
  • “The biggest devastation is for our Domestic Violence Housing First Project which gives us funding to provide rental assistance for 12-18 months for survivors,” she said. “All of those funds are federal so that means we will not be able to pay the rent they have been promised.”

FOX 6: Federal funding freeze on hold; Wisconsin programs concerned for future

  • Head Start programs in Waukesha and Washington counties have been shut down until further notice. This will affect parents with children enrolled in the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Waukesha and Washington counties.
     
  • The executive director at National Centers for Learning Excellence, Dr. Tim Nolan, said the program won’t resume until he can guarantee his staff will be paid.
     
  • The closure is impacting Shateria Brown, a young single mother.
     
  • “I was just in shock,” Brown said. “Not everybody got the funds like most. It is harder to pay, you know, for child care and it’s harder to pay for most stuff. Some people are actually out here struggling, hustling to get the funds.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump orders temporary freeze on federal grants. Here’s how that could affect Wisconsin

  • Carie Poser, who as executive director of the Balance of State Continuum Care oversees housing and homeless agencies of 69 counties, called the decision to freeze federal funds “catastrophic.”
  • As she emphasized in an email Tuesday morning that went out to stakeholders and recipients of federal grants, anyone attempting to serve clients must reach out to federally elected local officials.

WEAU

Senator Tammy Baldwin: “This is defying all the checks and balances. This is virtually a Trump government shutdown, and we’re already hearing from constituents, police departments, fire departments are wondering whether their grant funding is going to come through. School lunch programs are wondering whether tomorrow they’ll be able to serve students in their schools…”

WBAY

“The salvation of Fox City, says a federal freeze on that grant and loan funding could directly impact people relying on them for basic needs. Basic needs like housing and meals. . .You know, it’s unfortunate when there is a gap in receiving funding or no funding at all because we have to take a good look at how are we going to make that happen? We’re all humans. We all need to eat. We all need to stay warm. We all need to have a, you know, a safe home, a safe place to sleep. So what are we going to do?” 

WEAU

“In a memo from the Office of Management and Budget, they did declare that federal loan and grant programs must cease operations by 5:00 yesterday. The reason it made it into the farm news is this would include loans and grants from the FSA office for farmers, aid to nonprofits, and food programs.”

TMJ4

  • Reporter: “Right now we do know the state Medicaid programs across the country are reporting they’ve lost access to federal payment portals. The decision could also cause widespread disruption in healthcare research, education programs and other initiatives.”
     
  • Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson: “There are organizations that feed the folks who are hungry in our community. There are organizations out there that help people who’ve been abused by domestic abusers and like that, rely on the services of these organizations that then rely on federal funding.”

WISN

“Parents with kids enrolled in the Head Start program in Waukesha walked out of the Child and Family Centers of Excellence Tuesday with no word on when the free early education program, that’s often a lifeline for low income families, would return. ‘Yesterday, life was normal, then we were basically told to shut down.’ Doctor Tim Nolan is the CEO for the National Centers for Learning Excellence, he runs the head start program in Waukesha and sent this notice to parents Tuesday, saying the White House is pausing all funding for most federal grant or loan programs and by 4:00 Tuesday, they’d shut down until directed to reopen.”