#federal-grants

#federal-grants

The Arlington City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday in favor of a revised ordinance that removes "gender identity and expression" and "sexual orientation" as protected characteristics from the city's anti-discrimination policy. Until now, the rule had shielded LGBTQ+ people against "any direct or indirect exclusion, distinction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or other differentiation in the treatment of a person or persons" in employment, housing, health care, and beyond.

State officials on the front lines of preparing for natural disasters and responding to emergencies say severe cuts to federal security grants, restrictions on money intended for readiness and funding delays tied to litigation are posing a growing risk to their ability to respond to crises. It's all causing confusion, frustration and concern. The federal government shutdown isn't helping. "Every day we remain in this grant purgatory reduces the time available to responsibly and effectively spend these critical funds," said Kiele Amundson, communications director at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

The former San Jose mayor turned Congressional District 16 representative has introduced nine bills since taking office in the 119th Congress this year. They range from proposals to protect Medicaid from sweeping federal spending cuts, barring national lawmakers from promoting cryptocurrency that benefits them and restricting President Donald Trump's National Guard deployments. He's also co-sponsored 33 other bills from his colleagues.

When a deadly landslide tore through part of Wrangell, Alaska, in 2023, there was only one place people there could go for information. "We're on an island, and there's one road, and everybody that lived south of that road lost everything they lost their electricity, internet, television, phones," says Cindy Sweat, the general manager of KSTK, the community's public broadcaster. What was left, Sweat says, was the radio.

"The Biden administration literally was giving Intel money for free and giving TSMC money for free, and all these companies just giving the money for free, and Donald Trump turned it into saying, 'Hey, we want equity for the money. If we're going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action for the American taxpayer,'" Lutnick said.

The states allege that the Department of Justice "arbitrarily relied on immigration-related factors that Congress did not authorize it to rely on in allocating federal grant monies to support victims."

President Donald Trump's administration on July 1 withheld more than $6 billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, adult literacy and English language instruction, as part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House's priorities.

The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District removed diversity, equity, and inclusion language from policy documents to secure a $400 million federal grant for a seismic retrofit.

A common misconception is that universities can freely tap into their endowments to address financial shortfalls. In reality, a significant portion of endowment assets are legally restricted.

James Davis, president of PSC, stated, "The federal funding cuts have disrupted research at CUNY... over 60 grant-funded projects had been canceled."

"Federal small business research grants awarded by NSF are designed to support and foster innovative research by small businesses, not to provide taxpayer funding for businesses primarily owned by venture capital firms."

The American people have zero interest in millions of their tax dollars funding research on the intersection of gender non-conforming people and infrastructure inequality or whether road improvement projects are racist.

These announcements came the same day as a flurry of news stories about Trump's proposed budget including a "small agency eliminations" category which would once and for all dismantle...

"You go into science because you want to make a difference, and when you get a grant, it means you can do something to try to help people."

The cuts to the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Program jeopardize healthcare access in rural areas, leaving vulnerable populations without essential services.

It is just an opening salvo. Vera might be the first organization to lose its federal funding, but I am certain we will not be the last in the criminal justice field.