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City finance director warns federal funding shifts could force budget reprioritization
Summary
Virginia Lovell, Newport News director of finance, told council that changes at the federal level could reduce grants that support health, transportation and public safety programs and said the city will implement new positions and programs conservatively while monitoring developments.
Virginia Lovell, director of finance for the City of Newport News, told the City Council on April 8 that recent federal policy changes could affect the city's fiscal 2026 budget and that staff will monitor developments and prioritize legally required payments.
Lovell said, "there was an executive order and an OMB memo that proposed a temporary freeze on all federal financial awards" and that although that order was challenged and rescinded, the administration continued to signal an intent to pause or eliminate funding that does not align with federal priorities.
The nut of Lovell's presentation was that federal dollars fund many of the city's…
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