‘Losing this funding will cause deaths’: Suburban leaders blast Trump’s federal funding freeze

Some suburban gun violence prevention efforts, counseling programs for sexual abuse victims and road improvement projects would be crippled if President Donald Trump’s controversial order to freeze spending on federal grants and loans stands, advocates for those causes said Thursday.

So would outreach services for victims of domestic violence, home repair projects benefiting low-income suburbanites, efforts to reduce the spread of HIV and many more government-supported programs.

“I am not being melodramatic when I say this — losing this funding will cause deaths,” said Laura Fry, Executive Director of Live4Lali, an Arlington Heights-based nonprofit group fighting substance abuse.

Fry joined representatives from other suburban social service agencies at an online news conference Thursday to discuss the potential impacts of Trump’s $3 trillion funding freeze, the fate of which is unclear. Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart and Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart also participated in the discussion, which was hosted by U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Highland Park.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget on Monday issued a memo freezing spending on federal loans and grants, triggering confusion, legal challenges and a temporary stay from a federal judge. The budget office rescinded the memo Wednesday, but that night White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s orders concerning funding reviews “remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments.”

Fry estimated 65% of Live4Lali’s funding comes from government grants. If it loses federal support, Live4Lali would have to end activities in Cook County, which would affect thousands of people, Fry said.

“These people deserve better,” she said. “They deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion. They deserve to live.”

Marlene Copeland, executive director of a Chicago-based organization called SHALVA that provides counseling and other services to victims of domestic abuse, said a grant from the U.S. Justice Department funds the group’s outreach services, including the salaries of two staffers.

“All of this is at risk if federal funding is frozen,” Copeland said.

A freeze also would affect Lake County vaccination and job training programs, the purchase of equipment for first responders and efforts to help people who are homeless, Hart said.

The much-heralded realignment of Cedar Lake Road in the Round Lake area, which is expected to improve safety and boost the local economy, also would be in jeopardy, Hart said. Lake County was awarded a nearly $19 million federal grant last year to help pay for the roughly $57 million project.

Losing that money “would be absolutely devastating,” she said.

Lake County leaders are scrutinizing all departments now to determine how federal dollars are used and whose jobs could be cut if the freeze progresses.

“When that money stops, that job ends,” Hart said.

Live4Lali’s Fry said she’s looking into borrowing money to avoid laying off workers.

The threatened freeze could affect suburban schools, too.

Of the roughly $5.3 million in federal funds Maine Township High School District 207 is slated to receive this school year, only about half has been delivered, spokesperson Brett Clark said in an email. That leaves budgets for special education programs, health services and other efforts in doubt, he said.

Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke was among the municipal leaders from across the state who spoke by phone with Gov. JB Pritzker about the threatened freeze. Batavia is awaiting $3 million in federal funds to reimburse the purchase and setup of a new home for the nonprofit Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry and Clothes Closet.

Low-interest loans city officials planned to put toward a sewage treatment plant expansion and replacing lead and galvanized water pipes also are at risk, officials said.

“I think it will be interesting to see what things get paid and what don't,” Alderman Alan Wolff said during a committee-of-the-whole meeting this week.

· Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas and wire services contributed to this report.