He comments on President Trump’s freeze on federal grants and loans.
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Hagerstown, Md (KM) US Senator Chris Van Hollen paid a visit on Wednesday to the Western Maryland Legislative Delegation Meeting He spoke to lawmakers about the “elephant in the room,” the decision by the Trump Administration to freeze federal grants and loans. That order has been rescinded by the White House. But Van Hollen said it caused some worry and concern.
“You may not have been hearing from constituents as it was federal action. But we are hearing from fire stations; we’re hearing from small businesses; we are hearing from the ‘education space’ because this freeze is having an immediate impact across the country,”: he said.
Van Hollen continued: “I will say it created a lot of confusion and chaos among the federal workforce because the order was very broad and very ambiguous and that is why it is potentially impacting such a large number of organizations.”
But the news wasn’t all bad. “On the good news front, because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Modernization Bill that was passed a number of years ago, we’ve seen lots of federal investment in the expansion and build out high speed internet and broadband, including in Western Maryland,”: says Van Hollen.
He says the State of Maryland received over $267-million to implement high speed internet in Maryland, and it’s been paying off in Western Maryland. . “The build out of high speed internet has been a big help as you know to Western Maryland. It allows a lot of people to live and work there, Small businesses can go on the internet and be very profitable and productive,” says Senator Van Hollen.
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He says Western Maryland is expected to receive $31-million for fiscal year 2025 which began in early October of last year. But those funds are “in limbo” because the federal government has been operating under a continuing resolution. Van Hollen says Congress needs to put together a final budget for fiscal year 2025. The next big moment is March 15th which is the day after the continuing resolution expires. Van Hollen hopes a budget is adopted by then. “If we do not get that agreement, those $31 million targeted toward important priorities in Western Maryland would not materialize,” he says.
Senator Van Hollen is scheduled to visit with the Frederick County Legislative Delegation on Friday.
By Kevin McManus