Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
NEWARK, NJ –– This afternoon, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) joined New Jersey non-profit service providers to warn of the immediate and tangible negative effects the Trump-Vance administration’s January 27 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum will have on communities across the Garden State.
Requiring all executive departments and agencies “to identify and review all Federal financial assistance,” OMB’s memorandum pauses all grant, loan, and other congressionally apportioned financial assistance programs to municipalities and critical service providers across the country, including funding for veterans’ assistance groups, police, firefighters, and local first responders, early childhood education centers, older adult service providers, and domestic violence survivor organizations.
Condemning these pauses, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Andy Kim, and local and state-wide service providers warned:
“Once again, President Trump has made clear his willingness to inflict pain upon communities across the country, including at home in New Jersey. OMB’s latest guidance has produced immense uncertainty across our state’s municipalities and critical service providers. My office has heard from veterans’ assistance groups, local first responders, and domestic violence survivor organizations, and they’re all telling us the same thing. Their operational integrity and the wellbeing of those they serve are in jeopardy. These are the actions of a callous president––one wholly unconcerned by the day-to-day realities of the majority of Americans and New Jerseyans. While President Trump continues to ignore families who want to see actions that lower costs and make their lives better, I’ll continue to work to guarantee New Jerseyans––from Sussex County to Cumberland County and everywhere in between––have the resources they need to get ahead,” said Senator Cory Booker.
“President Trump and his administration continue to serve their own power first, not caring that local communities are the collateral damage to their incompetence. OMB’s decision disregards the basic functions of our federal government and how it meets critical needs in communities across our country. We want Donald Trump to know exactly what these decisions and loss of funding could mean for New Jersey: it places independent living centers on the brink, risks vital Meals on Wheels for our seniors, and threatens crucial Head Start services for our families. These are just a couple examples from the calls and messages coming into my office today. At a moment of such distrust between people and their government, this isn’t simply a disregard for our Constitution, this is a cruel attack hurting families all across this nation. We will look at all possible actions to force the Trump administration to honor Congress’ power of the purse and ensure these funds reach our communities,” said Senator Kim.
“The new executive order pausing the release of federal grant funding impacts sexual violence services, putting individuals who have been assaulted and their loved ones at greater risk. With reduced funding, service providers face the challenge of maintaining critical support systems, including the availability of advocates to answer hotlines, provide accompaniments to forensic exams, navigate the court system, and offer counseling and other critical services. Often, there is no duplication of services supporting survivors, and our data show that there are already existing waitlists for them. Interruptions in funding will only exacerbate an already strained system and delay access to care. This increase in wait times will not only heighten the immediate danger of further harm but also prolong the impact on survivors’ healing,” said Robert Baran and Denise Rodriguez, Co-Directors, New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
“We have worked with Senator Booker countless times to be sure we have secured these much needed dollars to Fire Departments across New Jersey. These dollars have offset costs for manpower, training, and equipment. All of which have provided a safer workplace for our members while we protect the residents and visitors of our great State. We urge the President to release these funds Congress has appropriated for AFG and SAFER grants,” said Eddie Donnelly, President, New Jersey State Firefighters’ Mutual Benevolent Association (FMBA).
“A pause in federal funding of any length will impact our ability to serve our homeless veteran population. This is not just the case for our program but for similar programs throughout the nation. The effects of this pause will be immediate and grave. For example, they will imperil the support families enrolled in the VA’s Support Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) programs receive, including rental assistance. And, as rents come due in a matter of days, this raises the specter of evictions and increased veteran homelessness. Additionally, a pause in the federal funding we receive will immediately affect our ability to purchase and prepare food for our 100+ housed veterans, prevent us from taking in, and providing services, for additional homeless veterans in New Jersey, halts our ability to pay leases on vehicles used for support services, and jeopardizes the jobs of nearly 200 employees dedicated to serving our nation’s veterans, many of whom are veterans or were once unhoused veterans themselves. While we will continue to provide those who rely on us with the dignity and care they deserve, OMB’s memorandum seriously endangers the wellbeing of an already vulnerable population,” said Bruce Buckley, Chief Executive Officer, Soldier On.
“The recent pause in funds has produced considerable concern across the Rutgers University community, which prides itself on the federally supported research and service it carries out to promote the common good and serve the national interest. The federal government is a critical partner to Rutgers, with federal funding for student aid, research, and public service initiatives accounting for about $1 billion of the university’s $5.6 billion budget. As we work across the university to understand the impact of the federal pauses and to provide guidance to our community during these uncertain times, Rutgers remains profoundly committed to our public mission of research, teaching, and service, and to our students’ success,” said Jonathan Holloway, President, Rutgers University.
“A freeze to the release of federal funds will impact all victims and survivors of domestic violence. The vast majority of our 33 domestic violence providers in NJ rely on federal funding to ensure that every county has a domestic violence shelter, legal advocacy, counseling and other critical services that survivors need. A freeze in funding will increase barriers for survivors seeking safety, and will cause many to stay in abusive situations, increasing the danger and harm they will experience. The federal government must act accordingly, and not hastily, to ensure victims and survivors have the services they need in their community when they need them” said Adrienne Gantz and Nicole Morella, Co-Executive Directors, New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence.
“Just a few days into their term, the Trump-Vance Administration has imposed an unprecedented freeze on federally funded programs, including programs that benefit more than 578,000 New Jerseyans, who rely on community health centers for vital, cost-efficient and life-saving care. For a majority of our state’s community health centers, this freeze in federal funding will cause them to shutter, leaving hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans without access to healthcare. These freezes come asemerging public health risks––like bird flu and other infectious diseases––continue to pose dangers to our communities. Our health centers are already struggling financially, and many are facing the likelihood of not making payroll in the next few weeks, dealing a death blow to centers that are already having difficulty in retaining an adequate workforce for the services they provide,” said Selina Haq, Ph.D., President/Chief Executive Officer, New Jersey Primary Care Association.
“Boys & Girls Club of Newark has six funding sources that may be impacted by the federal spending freeze. These funds represent more than 10% of our annual budget of $5M and could affect funding for 35-50 team members in direct service with youth. The kinds of programs that could be affected are meal service at our after-school programs, food distribution to families, mentorship for at-risk youth, and critical funding related to safety at our facility. We believe these services are of vital importance to the work we do in our community. Our hope is to see funding restored to ensure our constituents can receive these services that they rely on for their well-being,” said Ameer Washington, Chief Executive Officer, Boys & Girls Club Newark.
“The freeze in federal funding, which has been imposed, will undoubtedly have a devastating impact on Centers for Independent Living throughout the country. These centers provide crucial support and assistance to individuals with disabilities, allowing them to live independently and fully participate in their communities. With this ban in place, these centers may be forced to put vital services on hold, leaving many individuals without the necessary resources and support they rely on. Furthermore, the ban may also result in significant financial strain for these centers, potentially leading to payrolls being put on hold and difficulty paying rent. This could ultimately jeopardize the ability of these centers to continue operating and providing essential services to those in need. The impact of this ban will not only be felt by the centers themselves, but also by the individuals they serve, creating a ripple effect throughout the disability community. It is essential that this ban be reconsidered and alternative solutions be explored to ensure that Centers for Independent Living can continue their important work without interruption,” said Carole Tonks, Executive Director, Alliance Center for Independence – Edison, NJ.
“This order to halt federal funding will have devastating consequences for millions of New Jerseyans, including many that New Jersey Citizen Action directly serves. Federal grants enable many organizations like ours to help New Jerseyans to save themselves from foreclosures, afford first-time homebuyer loans, protect themselves from housing discrimination, file their taxes for free, navigate essential social safety-net programs, and achieve financial stability. These key investments have allowed New Jersey to build stronger communities and healthier, thriving families. The order would also affect the entire New Jersey nonprofit sector dedicated to serving our state’s most vulnerable populations. These include organizations that provide services for seniors, people with disabilities, children, women, victims of domestic violence, and organizations in the field of mental health. It’s unconscionable that the Trump administration should halt these investments—which have already been approved by Congress—for American taxpayers while considering further tax cuts for billionaires and corporations,” said Dena Mottola, Executive Director, New Jersey Citizen Action.
“The work that we do along with other nonprofit public health agencies is vital to the health of our communities. We know that maternal child health is critical to the health of our nation and limiting or cutting funding that states, agencies and programs like ours receive will have negative long-term consequences on the women, children and families that we serve,” said Robyn D’Oria MA, RNC, APN, Chief Executive Officer, Central Jersey Family Health Consortium.
Additional programs and initiatives adversely impacted by OMB’s memorandum include but are not limited to:
Head Start
Click here for a state-by-state table of FY 2024 funding for Head Start, which funds comprehensive early childhood education, or here for state-by-state fact sheets that use the same funding data.
VAWA Grants
Click here for state level totals of FY 2024 grant funding from the Office of Violence Against Women.
Community Health Center
Click here for a 2023 table of state-by-state Section 330 grant funding for community health centers, which provide affordable care for millions of Americans.
IDEA and Other Department of Education Grant Programs
Click here for a state-by-state table of IDEA Grants (which help children with disabilities) from FY 2023, and data on other grant programs through the Department of Education that could be impacted by the freeze.
COPS Grants
The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program is a Department of Justice grant program for law enforcement. More info here, and many of the links include state-by-state fact sheets. This link here includes FY 2024 grant amounts for the COPS Hiring Program (CHP). These are divided up by state but you may have to calculate your state’s total separately.
State Opioid Response Grants
Click here for total state awards from FY 2024 for the State Opioid Response Grantsprogram, which funds addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
SBA Loans to Small Business
Click here for a dashboard of approved SBA loans by state for recent fiscal years including FY 2024. State totals for both the 7(a) program and 504 program are available. Copying values from the dashboard does not always work, but the Download Data option is a good other way to access the numbers.