Sauk Valley public safety, social service agencies dazed, confused after Trump order to pause federal funding

ROCK FALLS — Organizations and local governments throughout the Sauk Valley were left in a cloud of uncertainty Tuesday following President Donald Trump’s order to pause the distribution of all federal grants and loans.

Trump’s federal funding freeze, announced late Monday, was supposed to take effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, but a federal judge late Tuesday afternoon temporarily blocked the order until 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3.

But throughout Tuesday, agencies that receive federal funding were uncertain as to what the order would mean for their organizations and programs.

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Rockford, represents Illinois’ 17th District, which includes all of Carroll, Rock Island, Whiteside, and Knox counties and parts of Mercer, Stephenson, Tazewell, McLean, Fulton, Peoria, Henry, Warren, and McDonough counties. In an interview with Shaw Local on Tuesday he said policy and legislative teams were “blindsided” by the order Monday night and that the memo announcing it lacked clarity.

“There’s nothing in there that helps any member of Congress or any legislator figure out what it even is,” Sorensen said. “Now we have all of these constituents scared. We don’t have anything to say to them. That’s what’s heartbreaking about this.”

Sorensen noted his concern about funding for public safety agencies, such as police and fire departments.

Two Sauk Valley agencies that could feel a significant impact are the Rock Falls and Sterling fire departments. The departments were working closely with Sorensen throughout 2024 to obtain $1.5 million in federal funding to build a training facility for area firefighters.

A portion of that - $825,000 - was approved by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on July 10, 2024, but is still waiting for approval from the U.S. House and U.S. Senate before the funds can be distributed.

In a previous interview, Sorensen said his plans were to try to have the remaining $675,000 of his request approved in 2025.

“If this federal money can’t get to Rock Falls, we can’t proceed and so this is going to have a real impact on our first responders,” Sorensen said Tuesday.

Sterling Deputy Fire Chief David Northcutt confirmed in an interview with Shaw Local on Tuesday that the departments have not yet been awarded the funds.

“We are waiting for it to be approved through all the political beings, which is on hold,” Northcutt said.

Without those funds, the training facility will likely not be built, he said.

“Other than grants or fundraising type things or donations from communities, it is going to be a very large uphill battle trying to obtain the funding through the two cities,” Northcutt said.

Part of the plans for the training facility are to build what’s called a burn tower, which allows firefighters to train in live-fire conditions - something that both departments currently lack access to.

The facility’s creation was spurred by the line-of-duty death of Lt. Garrett Ramos of the Sterling Fire Department and a subsequent needs assessment of the Sterling and Rock Falls fire departments.

“We need clarity,” Sorensen said. “How this is going to affect our communities back home. How much disruption it will lead to health centers and Head Start programs and Medicaid. We’ll clarify this. We’ll keep following it.”

Another area agency that felt the effects of Tuesday’s uncertainty was the Tri-County Opportunities Council in Rock Falls. It was awarded an $8.1 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services for its Head Start education program in June 2024.

The Head Start program is a comprehensive child and family development program for preschool aged children with a diagnosed disability and/or from families experiencing low-income.

“I had such a great time when I met with Head Start in Sterling,” Sorensen said. “A funding freeze means the staff doesn’t get paid, those classrooms could shut down...for families that are struggling, for moms and dads who are working hard, they may not have that childcare anymore.”

With many types of federal grants, like Tri-County’s, agencies don’t receive the awarded amount in the form of a cash or a check. Instead, they’ll request or “draw down” funds to cover anticipated expenses related to the grant and are obligated to spend that money within three days of receiving it.

Early Tuesday, Tri-County’s payment management system for its Head Start grant crashed while trying to draw down funds from the grant, “but we are still able to draw down funds at this time,” Tri-County Council President and CEO Jill Caulkins said in an interview with Shaw Local.

Caulkins said Tri-County relies “pretty much 100%” on grant funds to operate.

“We’re still working through what it might mean for all our other programs.... you know, it’s not really clear,” Caulkins said.

She pointed to Tri-County’s Weatherization Program, which provides home weatherization services for income-eligible households; the Community Services Block Grant, which provides funding to Community Action Agencies - including Tri-County - to reduce poverty; and the Foster Grandparent program, in which volunteers ages 55 and up provide emotional and educational support to children in the classroom.

The Ogle County Health Department also ran into issues obtaining federal funds Tuesday.

“The ACTion grant funded by CDC is affected by the funding freeze. We do not have any other information at this time as communications with CDC was paused by officials as well,” OCHD Director of Public Health Programs Cherie Rucker wrote in an email to Shaw Local on Tuesday.

The OCHD was awarded an Address Conditions to Improve Population Health grant by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March 2024. With that funding the department established mini-food pantries in Ogle, Lee, Whiteside and Carroll counties to address the area’s lack of access to fresh and nutritious food.

While those organizations were dealing with what the order could mean for federal grants, Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss said the federal money directed to Project Rock – a pedestrian bridge to be built over the Rock River – will come through.

The city of Dixon was awarded a $12 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2021 to construct the pedestrian bridge over the river, 2.8 miles of multi-use path and resurfacing parts of Page Drive.

In an interview Tuesday, Langloss said those funds weren’t impacted by Tuesday’s freeze.

Langloss said the city hasn’t yet heard an update on its application, submitted in late in 2024, for a $3 million Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant - which is funded with state and federal dollars - to construct additional multi-use pathways that run south toward South Galena Avenue.

“The big thing that we’re all gonna have to do is just sit and wait and see what happens,” Langloss said. “We’re not going to panic at this time, and we believe in the quality and the worthiness of the projects. We’re confident that these infrastructure projects will be funded.”

Still, Sorensen said “there are so many people that have called our congressional district offices that are worried, that are scared.”

“I think the President [Trump] is ill-advised, thinking maybe that this doesn’t affect people, but what’s happening today is affecting real people,” Sorensen said.