Category: Justice

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), as well as U.S. Representatives Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), joined Manchester School District Superintendent Jennifer Chmiel, Strafford County Community Action Partnership CEO Betsey Andrews Parker, Amoskeag Health CEO Kris McCracken, Professional Firefighters of NH and other New Hampshire organizations for a virtual event to outline the ways that President Trump’s halt of nearly all federal grants and loans is impacting New Hampshire families and communities. 
You can watch the full press conference here.
“We’ve got millions of people across the country, and thousands in New Hampshire, who have no idea if they’re going to be able to get the services that they’re depending on because the White House has been so confused about what they’ve done and they haven’t been able to issue any clear answers,” said Senator Shaheen. “We need to see the President repeal these executive orders because what he has done is not going to help people lower their food prices, pay their rents, get the child care that they need or the health care that they need for their families.”
“President Trump’s illegal cut of federal funds includes grants for police officers, firefighters, our efforts to crackdown on fentanyl, special education programs, small business loans, community health centers, homeless shelters for veterans…virtually every aspect of American life. The White House keeps sowing chaos and confusion about the status of this funding. But make no mistake. People’s safety, their jobs, their health, our fire and police departments…shouldn’t hang in the balance subject to the confused wordings and impulsive whims of the next tweet or memo,” said Senator Maggie Hassan.
“The actions taken by the Trump Administration to freeze federal funds will have a devastating impact on communities across New Hampshire and will significantly hurt our state’s ability to address housing concerns, fight addiction, preserve public safety, and make sure that Granite Staters have what they need. These federal funds are more than just lines on a spreadsheet in Washington D.C. This is about people here in New Hampshire and the ability of our communities to come together to help those in need and build a stronger future for us all. This fight is not over, and my message to Granite Staters is that we will do all that we can to protect these resources and ensure that our communities remain healthy, strong, and safe,” said Congressman Pappas.
“This week I’ve traveled across the Second District — from the North Country to Nashua and from Keene to Concord. I’ve talked to our workers, teachers, police officers, firefighters, health care providers, small businesses, mayors, and town managers. The through line of every conversation has been an intense concern about the wide-ranging and devastating impacts that losing the federal funding promised to New Hampshire will have on our way of life,” said Representative Maggie Goodlander. “Real people right here in New Hampshire are paying the price for President Trump’s lawless, chaotic efforts to cut off federal funding. That is unacceptable. I will never stop fighting with every possible tool to deliver for New Hampshire.”
“Our priorities have not changed.  We will continue to provide services to our clients and support our team until we are directed otherwise.  We will adapt to the changing landscape so clients that depend on our agency for services such as childcare, fuel assistance, transportation, and food can continue to access these resources. We greatly appreciate the support of the New Hampshire delegation during this challenging time.” said Betsey Andrews Parker, CEO Community Action Partnership of Strafford County.
“The Portsmouth Police Department depends on federal grants to fund programs impacting local, seacoast, and statewide communities. Locally, federal grant funds are utilized for bulletproof vests for officers and enforcement patrols on our roadways, which include speed, distracted driving, DUI, and pedestrian/bike enforcement. With the help of federal dollars, we offer victim witness advocate services, staff training, and law enforcement equipment such as body-worn cameras and investigative equipment… the loss of these funds would reduce staff, significantly impact investigations into internet-based sexual crimes against children that have skyrocketed and continue to climb, and impact services for victims of crime, roadway safety, and the safety of our officers,” said Mark Newport, Chief of Police, Portsmouth Police Department in a letter.
“Uncertainty makes development difficult. While we work in a field rife with uncertainty, we know we can rely on our funding sources to be steady, when we have the funding we can move forward. It upsets our ability to commit to community projects when we cannot know whether or not the funding we have been awarded to build housing will actually be available to us when the time comes to call on those funds. In a relatively high-risk development environment, in a critical need area for our communities, we need the federal funds to be stable. Being left without promised funds on a project could easily mean the financial collapse of the project, a loss of years worth of time and effort. Depending on the projects size, it could have a major impact on our ability to operate,” said Harrison Kanzler, Executive Director, AHEAD Inc.
“As NH’s only center for independent living, serving thousands of individuals living with a disability, the consequences of EO-M-25-13, would have caused thousands of Granite Staters living with a disability to be left without critical services.  These services are in place to provide and assist with daily needs, including transportation, personal care, education, and workforce training.  The very services provided by GSIL and funded by federal grants, such as benefits counseling, workforce readiness, and transition services are an integral part in the promotion of living independently,” said Deborah Ritcey, MPA/HA, President & Chief Executive Officer, Granite State Independent Living (GSIL).
“As a private non-profit community development corporation that is focused on providing affordable housing for granite staters, we have worked with numerous federal programs over the past thirty years, and the one thing we need to keep doing our work is consistency and reliability.  So when we are faced with distractions that cause chaos and confusion throughout our sector, it makes the difficult work of building affordable housing even that much more challenging,” said Robert Tourigny, Executive Director, NeighborWorks Southern New Hampshire.
“While we were relieved that the Administration intended to exclude rental assistance from the spending freeze, funding that we rely on to provide self-sufficiency services to working families, build new affordable housing, and reduce our energy costs were all targeted. On behalf of the nearly 930 senior, disabled and working families we serve, we are grateful to all of the individuals, organizations and elected officials across the country for their advocacy,” said Joshua Meehan, Executive Director, Keene Housing.
“Federal funding is a lifeline for Community Health Centers, which deliver comprehensive primary care, mental and behavioral health, dental, and other essential primary care services to over 330,000 patients across New Hampshire and Vermont. With the uncertainty around the status of health centers’ federal grant funding, we are extremely concerned about the ability of their patients to access the services they need,” said Tess Kuenning, President & CEO of Bi-State Primary Care Association.
“Ammonoosuc Community Health Services is a federally qualified health center that integrated primary preventive services in the rural White Mountains of Northern New Hampshire to nearly 10,000 patients a year, across five strategically located care delivery sites. In fact, we serve 1 out of every 3 residents within our service area.  Our patients receive care that is nationally recognized.  Our outcomes for patient with depression or diabetes exceeds national healthy people goals since 2009, top two FQHC for colorectal cancer screening (2018), top 16 FQHC in overall cancer screening (2023).  All accomplished in a financially responsible manner where our annual financial audit has always been free of any concerns and 95% of our patients recommend us to friends, family and neighbors who need care. All in all we govern ACHS in a responsible and predictable manner.  As an FQHC we provide services to everyone, regardless of social and economic status. The President’s unprecedented and unannounced freeze on nearly all federal funding meant an immediate freeze on nearly $180,000 in monthly drawdown payments and catapulted my staff into 24 hours of uncertainty and chaos while we tried to get clarification from the administration. Clarification that never came. This type of governing is categorically not a responsible way to govern, has real world impacts, and wasteful in diverting critical resources away from our core mission of providing outstanding health care services to those in our community who need it most. As the CEO and steward of ACHS, The People’s Health Center, I take responsible governance seriously and I expect those elected by the people to take their responsibility seriously as well,” said Ed Shanshala, CEO, ACHS.
On Wednesday night, Shaheen spoke on the Senate floor to condemn the Trump administration’s order to take away federal grants and loans that families, seniors and small businesses in all 50 states rely on for critical, often life-saving services. Shaheen illustrated the chaos caused by the extreme order by sharing the stories of many Granite Staters she has heard from in the past two days.
On Monday, the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced a sweeping executive order pausing almost all forms of federal assistance to states, nonprofits, non-governmental organizations and more. Senator Shaheen immediately condemned the move and emphasized the impact it will have on communities. The full list that agencies were directed to review encompasses over 2,600 assistance programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), community health centers, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), transportation and highway funding, energy assistance programs, water infrastructure funding, State Opioid Targeted Response grants, GI Bill, veteran compensation for service connected disabilities, Section 8 housing vouchers, school breakfast and lunch, Title I education grants, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Head Start.

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