Forest Grove, TriMet react to now-stayed federal funding freeze
A federal judge in Washington D.C. temporarily blocked a freeze the Trump administration had planned to enforce Tuesday on federal grants and loans, the Associated Press reported just after 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Oregon is joining a slate of other Democrat-led states suing the federal government over the move.
State and local governments, who often make use of federal dollars to tackle major projects or run existing programs, were left uncertain Tuesday what programs were and were not affected by the memo.
What comes next is uncertain; the move, the White House said, was necessary to review federal funding to ensure it complied with the Trump administration's priorities.
"This memorandum requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements," the memo read in part.
Local impact
City of Forest Grove
The city is uncertain where it stands in regards to their federally funded-projects.
Before the news broke Tuesday, Forest Grove City Manager Jesse VanderZanden had already prepared a list of federally funded projects the city was working on that could be affected by the new administration's shifted priorities.
VanderZanden spent a good portion of his city manager's report Monday night at the Forest Grove City Council explaining to Forest Grove's elected leaders which programs could be impacted.
Then news of the memo broke Tuesday morning.
Just a few hours later, the contents of the presentation may no longer be relevant.
"The city is doing due diligence with all of our partners to find out the status of funding for all our projects with federal funds," VanderZanden said.
TriMet
Citing ongoing developments surrounding the federal order, including the stay halting the freeze, a TriMet spokesperson said the agency was waiting for more information.
"TriMet is awaiting further direction from the [Federal Transit Administration] and [U.S. Department of Transportation] regarding how federal funds that we receive by formula and discretionary grants might be impacted," TriMet spokesperson Tia York said in an email to this newspaper.
"Federal formula and discretionary funds support a range of TriMet activities, including state of good repair, paratransit service for seniors and people with disabilities, bus maintenance facility modernization and bus replacement. These activities have broad bipartisan support, and we are hopeful these funds will continue to come to TriMet," York added.
News in the Grove has reached out to a large number of other agencies and nonprofits and will continue to update this story as their information comes in. Do you work at a local Forest Grove nonprofit, school, or government that has seen a local impact as a result of the memo in this story? Let me know at chashundley@newsinthegrove.com.
