What would a freeze in federal funding mean for Essex County and all of New Jersey? Officials want to make sure everyone knows.
Senator Cory Booker, Representative LaMonica McIver and others spelled out at a press conference in East Orange exactly what a federal cutoff of funds would mean for so many types of programs and services. The freeze has been blocked by a judge and faces additional legal challenges but Booker says the damage is done.
“We had a freeze that was put on that affected even a lot of the portals that people use to access information and get the resources that they need. And so that freeze sent a lot of chaos throughout the state,” he said. “Even now with the supposed unfreeze there are still a lot of nonprofits and agencies who do not know if the funding that they have been allocated for the coming year is going to be reliable.”
Booker said chaos has ruled here from the outset. “Right when these announcements were made they weren’t made in any kind of thoughtful manner,” he said.
A lack of federal funding would mean police and fire departments would not be able to get needed equipment, and all kinds of services for people in crisis as well as children and the elderly would be endangered.