Michigan groups that help provide public assistance with federal grant money testified before the state Senate Oversight Committee Wednesday.
The committee focused on how groups that work in areas like public health and childcare handled a pause in their federal grant funding in late January, and are preparing for possible future cuts to that money.
MaDonna Princer is with Head Start for Kent County. Princer said they were able to get around funding delays this time. But she said a possible federal government shutdown and budget talks still create uncertainty.
“If we don't see the balance of our grant deposited by early to mid May, we have the potential to run out of funds. If we run out of those funds, it will create us to have to close classrooms and lay off staff,” Princer said.
The interruptions coincided with a move from the Trump administration to pause public assistance grants and loans. Courts have since blocked that plan and the administration has taken steps to walk it back.
But despite that, Princer said Head Start for Kent County was among the organizations that still faced significant delays in accessing their grant money.
State Senate Oversight Committee Chair Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) said lawmakers need to stay aware of what’s going on with delays like that, especially as communities depend on affected organizations.
“Many times, it's our departments that are handling the federal dollars going out into local communities. If there continue to be cuts and those programs don't exist anymore, we're going to have to deal with them as a state,” Singh said after Wednesday’s meeting.
Still, Republicans seemed skeptical.
Senator Jonathan Lindsey (R-Allen) accused Democrats of grandstanding with their committee hearing, arguing they should have instead worked more to help connect affected groups with their funding. He said his office was proactive during the interruptions.
“Every organization that asked us about the funding freeze, we did everything we could to connect to state government if it's pass through money, or to talk to people who … represent us in Congress. In every single one of those cases, it was almost immediately resolved,” Lindsey said Wednesday.
As the uncertainty unfolds, however, Singh left the door open for more Oversight Committee hearings to come.
