* Last week…
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cutting off roughly $10 billion in child care and family assistance funding to five Democratic-led states — including about $1 billion for Illinois — halting a move that state officials say would have immediately disrupted aid to working families while a legal challenge plays out.
The other four states were New York, California, Colorado and Minnesota.
* Yesterday…
A federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration’s plan to slash $600 million in public health grants to Democrat-led states after a coalition of states led by Illinois filed suit against the federal government earlier today.
Before the temporary restraining order was issued, Illinois stood to lose more than $170 million in funding for projects that include HIV prevention efforts, pediatrician training and diabetes prevention.
Same five states.
* Also, same five states earlier this week…
The White House has directed the Transportation Department to freeze the release of almost $135 million for Democratic-led states to build EV charging stations, citing allegations of “waste and mismanagement,” writes David Ferris. […]
(M)ore than 2,600 planned charging points in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota will fall by the wayside if the newest freeze stands. […]
The largest program to be cut is $100 million for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to build 14 charging plazas along major freight routes.
* The Tribune reports today that the IEPA cut wasn’t the full story. The feds also cut a $3.6 million grant to the Secretary of State’s office…
The Illinois Secretary of State’s office said it had signed a contract for the execution of the $3.6 million grant with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, part of the federal transportation department, and had not been notified the grant was being rescinded.
Scott Burnham, deputy secretary of state, said the grant was intended to fund three priorities related to commercial drivers licenses in Illinois: Studying the prevention of traffic crashes and fatalities related to large trucks and buses; implementing a new test proctoring program that would mitigate fraud on the written CDL exam; and translating the written CDL exam into Spanish.
The White House, meanwhile, described the grant as “$3.6 million for the Illinois Secretary of State to conduct a research study on best practices for translating the commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) knowledge test into Spanish.”
Burnham said the exam translation portion of the grant was only worth $30,000. Furthermore, he said, the Secretary of State’s office had conducted that work with non-grant funds and already offers the written CDL exam in Spanish.
* More from Burnham…
“The Trump administration is trying to cut funding for improving road safety, preventing crashes and saving lives in Illinois. This grant was awarded by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and executed through a legal agreement between the agency and the Secretary of State’s office. Attempts to cut this critical funding for political purposes is not only vindictive and irresponsible, but Illegal. The Secretary of State will fight to make sure Illinois gets every dollar that is owed.”
