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Madison mayor warns temporary OMB pause on federal grants could affect local services
Summary
Mayor Rhodes Conway told the City Council that an Office of Management and Budget memo pausing federal grants may affect Madison-area services and that a federal judge has issued an administrative stay through Monday; city staff are inventorying impacted funding.
Mayor Rhodes Conway told the Common Council on Jan. 28 that the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had issued a memo directing a temporary pause on federal grants, loans and financial assistance programs and that the city is tracking possible impacts.
"The Federal Office of Management and Budget did issue a memo instructing a temporary pause on Federal grants, loans, and financial assistance programs," Rhodes Conway said, and added that "as of this afternoon, a Federal judge has issued an administrative stay on that order until Monday afternoon."
The mayor said the directive could affect "tens of millions of dollars in services for the residents of Madison" because it could reach beyond city departments to the school district, Dane County, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison College and many nonprofits. She said city staff are compiling an inventory of federal funds the city receives directly and the programs that could be affected and that the information will be shared with the council when available.
"We, at the city, are currently evaluating what the effects of this directive will be, if it is upheld in the courts," Rhodes Conway said, noting the situation had changed repeatedly over the course of the day. She urged patience from council members and the public while the city works to "make sense of this" and to protect community services.
Staff briefings on the situation are planned for the council's finance committee and the Common Council Executive Committee; the mayor said other state and local officials nationwide are similarly analyzing possible impacts. The mayor's office did not present dollar totals at the meeting and said specifics remain "not known" until legal disputes are resolved.
Council members did not take any formal action during the meeting; the mayor said staff would bring updates as they complete the inventory and analysis.
