Federal freeze could disrupt Ohio budget process, jeopardize critical programs; Ohio lawmakers should protect Ohioans and demand clarity from administration

By Ben Stein
Policy Matters Ohio

Yesterday, President Trump issued a memo directing agency heads to freeze federal grants pending a spending review to ensure compliance with the slate of executive orders he signed during his first week in office. According to the memo, the mandated freeze applies to the issuance of new grant and assistance awards, disbursement of funds on open awards, and other agency actions that may be implicated by the executive orders to the extent permissive by law. By Feb. 10th, each agency must provide a report on the programs, projects, and funds subject to the mandated freeze.  

The memo is vague on a number of crucial points. For example, it is not clear what spending will actually be subject to the freeze taking effect at 5:00 PM today or how it will be determined whether agency spending is “implicated by the executive orders as permitted by law.” The memo provides that “payments to individuals” will continue but fails to specifically define which payments are exempt from the freeze.  

Policy Matters Executive Director Hannah Halbert issued the following statement urging Ohio leaders to quickly clarify the impacts of these orders on programs relied on by everyday Ohioans and act to ensure the state budget is protected from political brinksmanship.

“Federal funds make up more than one-third of Ohio’s general revenue fund. Many state agency budgets that pay for programs that everyday Ohioans rely on are based on federal grants to the states. For example, the TANF block grant is responsible for funding state programs like kinship care and publicly funded childcare. School meals are largely federally funded. Grants support programs that improve teacher quality and ones that help people recover from opioid addiction. The budget for Ohio’s Department of Children and Youth includes nearly $3 billion in federal funding, just over 67% of their budget. Federal funding touches every part of state government, from programs that support cancer patients to unemployment compensation.

This disruption could not have come at a worse time for Ohioans. The governor is expected to release his budget proposal next week. This freeze injects an unprecedented level of uncertainty into the already complex process and jeopardizes programs everyday Ohioans depend on — not in some abstract future, but today.

Ohio lawmakers and the Ohio congressional delegation must act immediately to ensure the state budget and the federal funding that is critical to so many Ohioans’ health, safety, education, and security is protected from executive overreach and internally contradictory executive directives. The stakes are too high for Ohioans.”

Programs subject to review and potentially subject to a federal freeze include but are not limited to:

• The Child Care Development Block Grant Program (CCDBG) — Department of Health and Human Services;

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) — Department of Health and Human Services;

• Unemployment Insurance — Department of Labor;

• WIC Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — Department of Agriculture;

• State Targeted Response (STR) Grants — Department of Health and Human Services;

• Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program — Department of Energy; and

• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (HEAP) — Department of Health and Human Services.