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Rebecca Boulos is the executive director of the Maine Public Health Association.
The federal government can feel abstract and far away up here in Maine, but federal funding fixes the roads and bridges we drive on to get to work every day. It supports community health centers, first responders, and boosts our economy by employing thousands of Mainers.
That’s why it was so concerning when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued the recent memo implementing a same-day nationwide freeze on federal financial assistance. After a swift and loud public outcry, OMB rescinded the memo. But with ongoing litigation, and continued threats to federal funding, workforce and communications, the push to protect national programs that have positive impacts for so many people in Maine is far from over.
Even the potential for this kind of funding freeze caused widespread confusion and immediate impacts. Last week, the Medicaid website went down nationwide, putting millions of Americans’ healthcare at risk. Organizations that rely on federal funds — like those that provide addiction treatment for veterans and care for older adults — were unable to access the funds they were legally due, jeopardizing staff salaries and solvency.
State and local governments and nonprofits nationwide were left groping in the dark for more information because in addition to freezing federal funds, the Trump administration instituted a nationwide pause on most federal agency communications. People didn’t know if they could pay their bills, and there was no one to call for help.
Thanks to quick leadership from Maine’s federal delegation, lawsuits from state attorneys general and nonprofit organizations across the country, a court ordered the freeze paused until Feb. 3 due to the likelihood that it was unconstitutional and illegal. Shortly after that decision, the administration rescinded the memo, while also making it clear that critical funding is still at risk, and the shutdown that happened last Tuesday may be imposed again.
Ending financial assistance in such a broad and impulsive way takes away food, childcare, and essential health services that you and I rely on here in Maine. That includes federally qualified health centers that primarily serve rural Mainers who have limited options for medical care. It means cutting programs like Head Start, which thousands of Maine families use to help their kids start strong in early learning and development, and which provides critically needed childcare for Maine’s workforce. It includes the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps Mainers pay for heat in the dead of winter, and Meals on Wheels, which provides food to older adults in need.
We all want our government to be efficient. We all want services to be accessible and useful, and for our tax dollars to work for us. Any government program should show a clear return on investment in improving people’s lives. Yet, universal downsizing and communications blackouts create more problems than they solve. The bird flu outbreak, for example, is decimating farms, making eggs and poultry more expensive and harder to find. If federal health agencies were able to communicate again, and if they had sufficient staff, they’d be able to track what’s going on and intervene — keeping animals healthy, supporting our food system, and keeping grocery costs down.
The bottom line is that many of the Maine-based organizations that we know and love, and which provide foundational support for our health, rely on federal funding. Doing away with it puts our physical, mental, and financial health at risk.
While the Trump administration walked back the freeze on federal assistance this time, there are ongoing attacks on federal funding, communications, and staffing, as indicated by the slew of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, and the buy-outs and layoffs of federal employees. Please reach out to your congressional representatives; thank them for speaking out against the funding freeze last week and urge them to continue to preserve federal programs, communications, and workers.
