City manager gives preliminary estimate of federal freeze's local exposure; $79 million in grants cited

City Manager Alan updated the City Council on Jan. 28 about a short-term White House pause on certain federal programs and provided an initial accounting of federal grant awards in the city's current budget.

"I do not have an exact number," Alan said, describing the briefing as preliminary. He said the federal guidance released to date indicates the pause "does not apply across the board" and that Social Security, Medicare and mandatory programs such as Medicaid and SNAP were explicitly excluded in the guidance the city had reviewed.

Alan gave an order-of-magnitude figure for federal grants included in the city's budget: $79,000,000 in awards included in the current budget (he said that figure excludes human-services projects). Of that total, he said roughly $60,000,000 is for streets and bridges, $8,000,000 for Water Works projects and $11,000,000 for community development-related programs such as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and HOME funding. He also noted the school system had a separate reserve of $14,000,000 for school-lunch funding.

Why it matters: City officials said the freeze could affect capital projects and nonprofit drawdowns that rely on federal funding, and council members raised concerns about short-term impacts on local nonprofits, emergency shelter providers and schools serving English-language learners.

Uncertainties and next steps Alan and other city officials said guidance was still being clarified at the federal level and that the pause was initially described as lasting until about Feb. 10, after which the administration would reassess. He said the president’s order, as explained in the city’s initial review, focuses on funding tied to DEI initiatives, the Green New Deal and some nongovernmental organizations the administration identified as undermining national interests. City staff are monitoring Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance and coordinating with regional municipal counterparts.

Council members asked staff to consider nonprofits that rely on federal drawdowns and to identify possible stopgap measures should eligible drawdown mechanisms be disabled. The manager said staff had been on calls with other mayors and with school officials; he said meetings with the superintendent and the school-board chair were scheduled to discuss immediate school-related concerns.

Speakers City Manager Alan (City Manager) Mayor Jones (Mayor) Several council members raised questions and concerns during the discussion (not all were individually named in the transcript)

Proper names Office of Management and Budget (federal office referenced) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program (program cited) HOME program (program cited)

Clarifying details Citywide federal grants in current budget: $79,000,000 (presenter stated; excludes human-services projects) Breakdown given by presenter: $60,000,000 — streets and bridges; $8,000,000 — Water Works projects; $11,000,000 — CDBG and HOME-type programs School lunch reserve cited: $14,000,000 (presenter statement) Freeze window referenced: initial guidance noted pause until approx. Feb. 10; subject to further clarification Programs explicitly excluded from freeze (per presenter paraphrase of OMB guidance): Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP

Meeting context Engagement level: agenda item prompting follow-up Q&A and subsequent council comments about nonprofit impacts and leaf-collection operational concerns Implementation risk: medium (dependent on federal guidance and length of pause) History: city staff participated in calls the morning of Jan. 28 with regional mayors and are tracking evolving guidance

Searchable tags federal freeze, grants, CDBG, HOME, streets and bridges, Water Works, schools

Provenance [{"block_id":"transcript_s1876","local_start":0,"local_end":650,"evidence_excerpt":"Alan? Thank you, mister mayor. So first of all, let me say that, receiving, the news this morning through the media, you know, has, generated an opportunity for us along with many others, I think, to ask a lot of, of questions. There have been a number of communication, from the White House to try to articulate, what is included and what is not included. So, I'd like to preface my remarks by saying, at this particular, hour, and date, I do not have, an exact number. I can only, share with you the kind of magnitude, that if you look at all federal revenue that comes into the city, a freeze on certain, grant, programs and projects would mean, to the city of Newport News.","tc_start":"00:31:16","tc_end":"00:33:56","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"transcript_s2020","local_start":0,"local_end":700,"evidence_excerpt":"So so how much federal revenue does the city receive, in the form of, of grants and aid. So it's $79,000,000 and this excludes human services projects. $79,000,000 has been awarded in the in the city's current budget. So, 60,000,000 of the 79,000,000 is in the category of streets and bridges. 8,000,000 of the 79,000,000 is Water Works projects related specifically, and 11,000,000, of the 79,000,000 is for CNI and other programs, such as the Community Development Block Grant Program and HOME Funding.","tc_start":"00:33:40","tc_end":"00:34:55","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]