#federal-funding

#federal-funding

The federal government signaled a new direction in federal funding this week when it announced plans to put as much as $150 million into a private semiconductor startup. Instead of a grant or a loan, the government would take an equity stake. It's a meaningful departure from how federal funding has traditionally operated. For years, federal R&D support came structured as non-dilutive grants and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards that didn't require equity concessions.

The freeze applies to the "Child Care and Development Fund" worth $2.4 billion (2.2 billion), the "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" worth $7.35 billion and the "Social Services Block Grant" worth $869 million. HHS said it had notified the five states and that they would require extra documentation to access the funds. The New York Post was the first to report the funding freeze for certain social services on Monday, citing unnamed federal officials that expressed "concerns that the benefits were fraudulently funneled to non-citizens."

Driving the news: The average award for 2026, the first of five years, is $200 million. Alaska, a rural state with unique challenges for health care access, got the second most funding after Texas, receiving $272 million. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted for the bill after being the focus of hours of negotiations with GOP leaders. The Wall Street Journal reported over the summer that officials had reassured Alaska's GOP senators that the state would do well in allotments from the fund.

2025 was a tumultuous year that tested our resolve from federal funding cuts to local road safety and climate resilience projects, a lengthy government shutdown that caused federal workers to miss paychecks and suspended nutrition assistance programs and the loss of subsidies for health insurance premiums for those who buy their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft is the mayor of Alameda.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said the fund is intended to improve rural health outcomes that have worsened over decades, while avoiding costly new construction. "This is a massive effort to change the unfortunate reality that has overtaken rural healthcare in America, which is that your ZIP code has started to predict your life expectancy," Oz told reporters. He said the money will also support other pilot projects across the country.

The U.S. Transportation Department slashed funds for the bullet train aimed at connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles in July. The Trump administration has said the California High-Speed Rail Authority had " no viable plan " to complete a large segment of the project in the farm-rich Central Valley. The authority quickly filed a lawsuit, with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom calling the federal government's decision "a political stunt to punish California."

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration will appeal a federal judge's order reversing billions of dollars in funding cuts to Harvard University, extending a standoff over the White House's demands for reforms at the Ivy League school. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal late on Thursday in a pair of consolidated lawsuits brought by Harvard and the American Association of University Professors.

One theory is that this is designed to put pressure on the Governor of Colorado to allow the pardon Trump attempted to go through???!!!

Attorney General Rob Bonta said the U.S. Department of Transportation did not have the authority to suspend $180 million to fund EV charging programs in California which Congress and former President Biden had already approved in 2021 as part of the landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. This is funding that was lawfully directed to states and local communities by Congress, Bonta said at a news conference.

The procurement consists of 16 low-floor electric buses supplied by Ebusco. Eight units have already been delivered and are currently undergoing commissioning, while the remaining eight are scheduled to follow in the coming weeks. Each vehicle is equipped with a 525 kWh battery pack, enabling an operational range between 400 and 500 kilometers under standard regional service conditions, the operator states.

In its annual "Roadmap to Safety" report, the Advocates for Highway & Road Safety once again surveyed the patchwork of statewide regulations that governs America's roads, and found a whopping 45 states had failed to adopt sufficiently aggressive road safety laws, including restrictions on text messaging behind the wheel, permitting red light cameras, and bans on open containers of alcohol in cars.

Oakwood University supports the Trump administration's controversial compact for higher education that would require signatories to make changes to their policies in order to receive a potential edge in federal funding, Religion News Service (RNS) reported. The historically Black university in Alabama wrote a Nov. 18 letter to the Education Department about its interest in the compact. Oakwood is the second HBCU to show interest in signing on.

Nurse Julianne Vidal takes vitals for Brandon Radford, 80, in his room at Oak Days, a permanent supportive housing program in a former hotel in Oakland, on May 22, 2024. Advocates for people experiencing homelessness fear this kind of housing could lose funding under federal guidelines released this month. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Have you ever made a promise to a child and taken it back? How about 100,000 children? That's exactly what the federal government has done in Queens. They made a promise to fund the new QueensWay, a project to transform 47 forgotten acres-a railway that hasn't been used in 60 years, a public eyesore and dumping ground-into a lush greenway running through the middle of Queens.

One-third of US museums have lost government grants or contracts since Donald Trump took office, according to a new survey. The findings, released by the American Alliance of Museums on Tuesday and based on responses from more than 500 museum directors across the US, shed new light on the challenges cultural institutions are facing under the Trump administration.

Yes, I do, a big one.

The Democratic socialist addressed the president in his victory speech on Tuesday night: "Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up." Mamdani referenced Trump in regard to his plans as mayor to address issues such as bad landlords, corruption, and labor protection. "Hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to go through all of us," Mamdani said.

Branford Public Schools has signed a 10-year, $60 million (€55 million) transportation contract with California-based Zum, marking the first agreement of its kind in Connecticut and setting the district on a path to a fully electric school bus fleet within five years. The Branford initiative aligns with Connecticut's legislative goal of deploying zero-emission school buses in environmental justice communities by 2030. The project is supported by federal and state funding programs, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Rebate Program, with allocations exceeding $6 million (€5.6 million) for vehicle and infrastructure costs.

The Build More Housing Near Transit Act was introduced by by Rep. Scott Peters (D-California) in July, but quickly gained bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress proving that the need for housing and transit reform can transcend red versus blue and urban versus suburban dichotomies. The clearest way out of our national housing shortage is by building more housing, said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a cosponsor, in a release.