Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined 22 other states and Washington D.C. Tuesday in a federal lawsuit seeking to permanently halt a freeze on disbursing some federal funds to states while the Trump administration decides whether the spending matches its priorities.
A judge quickly put a hold on the freeze pending a review, but the administration’s actions aimed at rolling back existing diversity, environmental, and energy policies left groups rushing to interpret the potential impacts.
“This freeze is affecting programs that millions of Michiganders depend on for their daily survival,” Nessel said in a video released by her office.
Local governments, schools, colleges, universities, and not-for-profit organizations in Michigan were also looking at what a freeze might mean.
Kelley Kuhn, the president and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association, said the impacts of the funding freeze were immediate, even if the court-ordered stay delayed its implementation.
“Nonprofits operate on small margins. And any delay in being able to access federal resources that they have a contract for will just continue to make it very difficult for them to have resources to get supplies that they need to provide services to communities all over Michigan," said Kuhn.
And Portia Roberson, CEO of the Detroit nonprofit Focus: Hope, said while the stay allows their work to continue, it's not clear how long that will last.
“We’re very happy with the reprieve for the time being. But it is just that – it’s the time being,” Roberson said, “so, there is the inability to sort of prepare for the future.”
That same uncertainty will play a part in the state’s plans as Governor Gretchen Whitmer prepares to roll out her new budget proposal and deliver her State of the State address next month.
The State Budget Office said 42% of the current Michigan budget is built on $34 billion from the federal government.
“Federal funding is critical to protecting the health and safety of all Michiganders — ensuring drinking water is clean and food is safe, keeping people in their homes and the power on, and funding homeland security and emergency management,” said State Budget Director Jen Flood.
“We are currently working across state government to examine how recent federal action to withhold funds appropriated by Congress will impact vital programs like food assistance, Medicaid and Head Start," Flood said.
