Will County schools, local governments evaluate plans after Trump’s call to freeze federal funds

Will County —

While a federal judge did issue a court order Tuesday afternoon temporarily blocking the Trump administration from freezing all federal grants and loans, the administration’s action created some confusion at local government, schools and local healthcare institutions.

The court order only holds until Monday.

Some agencies said so far they didn’t think the actions would impact them directly, for now.

Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said the pause of federal funding “appears to have no bearing on the operations” of the police department.

The following federal programs will continue without pause: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell Grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused," according to a memo issued by the Executive Office of the President Office of Management and Budget.

But, that statement was met with skepticism by some Democratic state and federal officials.

Lockport Township Supervisor Alex Zapien said the potential ramifications of the pause on federal funding are “concerning,” with several vital initiatives that could be affected.

“For example, [Lockport] Township currently has an ARPA-funded senior bus project in progress and this may face delays or disruptions depending on the length of this pause. Furthermore, our partnership with the fire department on a mental health counseling program, which serves residents who heavily rely on Medicaid, could be jeopardized if Medicaid funding in Illinois is indeed blocked as is being reported,” Zapien said.

The pause on federal funding “would leave the township to absorb these unexpected costs, threatening the sustainability of such a critical program,” Zapien said.

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said, “Will County does have programs that would be negatively impacted by a comprehensive freeze of federal grants. However, it is still too early to tell the impact of this action. There is mixed messaging from the administration about the full extent of this freeze. We will continue monitoring developments.”

The county recently reported getting its largest federal transportation grant ever, $27 million, for a railroad crossing in New Lenox. When asked if there is a concern that the funding could be canceled, Bertino-Tarrant said, it was “still too early to tell what will be impacted by this.”

While payments for SNAP and other services going directly to citizens will reportedly not be impacted by the freeze, schools are at risk of losing funding for a variety of programs, though local districts and institutions have yet to sort out how they could be impacted if the funding freeze eventually goes into effect.

Impact on schools

Joliet Public Schools District 86 Superintendent Dr. Theresa Rouse said “we don’t know yet,” when asked if the district will lose funding due to a freeze. “We are still investigating the possible impacts,” she said.

Lockport Township High School District 205 Director of Public Relations Jeannette Castillo stated “I am not aware of it impacting us at this time.”

The Herald-News has reached out to Joliet Township High School District 204 and Plainfield Community Consolidated District 202 but had not received a response.

Joliet Junior College said it does expect to impacted by the freeze if it goes through, though it is not yet known which programs and services will be impacted.

“The announcement made today by the White House budget office to temporarily freeze federal funds followed by a federal judge’s temporary block of that plan, has led to rapidly evolving conversations here at the college, within the state, and at the national level,” said JJC President Dr. Clyne Namuo in a statement sent to college staff and students, which reiterated the administration’s commitment to the mission of keeping its campuses “an inclusive and safe space.”

Namuo called the situation “a fluid conversation” and reiterated that community colleges are locally controlled with some federal regulation.

“The cabinet team is actively monitoring this,” the statement said. “We will continue to proceed with normal operations and will share information as we receive it.”

Namuo also reported that the college has been in contact with local congressional representatives to discuss the developments on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as well the evolving policies on gender and immigration.

JJC received over $7.8 million in federal grant funds in the past fiscal year, according to college spokeswoman Kelly Rohder-Tonelli.

She stated that “programs that could potentially be impacted by the directives outlined in the memo include a broad spectrum of workforce readiness programs, adult education and student support service grants through the Department of Education.”

She emphasized though that it is not known exactly how many or which programs will be impacted, just that the federal orders have the “ability to change programs and services.”

Like schools, libraries receive a portion of their funding through federal grant programs, which are in danger of being halted.

According to Joliet Public Library Executive Director Megan Millen, the Joliet Library received $223,287.57 in Institute of Museum and Library Science grant funding from the federal government last year, which is distributed through the Illinois State Library. This represents about 3% of the library’s operating budget of $7.75 million.

“If the funding is not restored, we stand to lose vital funds for materials and services directly to the public,” Millen said. “While property taxes remain our major source of funding, the money we receive directly and indirectly from the federal government is critical for public libraries in Illinois.”

She continued to note that the larger statewide organization Reaching Across Illinois Library System, or RAILS, which allows for sharing of materials between libraries, is largely funded by federal and state grants. In 2021 the system delivered more than 11,500,000 items between branches around Illinois.

“Without that critical funding, the system could not pay for delivery of items between libraries,” Millen said.

The White Oak Library District, which operates branches in Lockport, Romeoville and Crest Hill, also receives $114,122.25 in IMLS grant funding from the federal government through the state.

“We are taking a wait-and-see approach,” said White Oak Library District Director Scott Pointon. “I am not sure how this federal action may impact this state grant, but we are of course worried. I heard that a federal judge today blocked the president’s action, so we are keeping a close watch over this breaking news.”

Like its high school district, the city of Lockport has also been spared any impact of the funding freeze so far.

City Administrator Ben Benson said that the city has had “no impact yet” because the city is “not currently expecting federal funds.”

Benson noted that the city is expecting some grant funding from the state of Illinois for infrastructure projects but said the federal freeze “appears more aimed towards social programs” adding “hopefully the rhetoric lightens up in the next few weeks.”

Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox said it was not expecting any impact from the Trump administration’s proposed suspensions.

“At this time, we do not anticipate any effects from pausing federal funding at Silver Cross,” said Debra Robbins, director of marketing and communications at Silver Cross Hospital.

Olga Solares, senior director of external communications for Ascension Illinois said Ascension Illinois does not “have a response on impact at this time” on whether this might affect Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet.