After the Trump administration issued an executive order that sought to block federal loans and grants, organizations around West Virginia have started to reduce their services or lay off employees.
The Appalachian Center for Independent Living, one of those institutions, stated on Friday that it will be laying off a large number of employees immediately.
According to a news statement from the agency, the group, which helps people with disabilities in West Virginia with daily duties while they live in their own homes, stated that 60% of its present personnel would be laid off because they were refused access to federal money.
According to ACIL, the company will continue to operate with a small number of employees for the next two to three weeks, following which they will decide whether or not they can continue their work.
This announcement follows President Donald Trump’s attempt to block all federal money for ideological review in an order that he signed on Monday. However, two federal judges have temporarily suspended the ruling as of Friday.
After Trump issued the executive order, there were widespread reports of problems, including states’ Medicaid payment gateway websites going down and colleges and institutions around the country being thrown into doubt because many students depend on grants to pay for tuition.
“Despite the withdrawal Tuesday night of the OMB Memo freezing all federal grant payments, the Center has received no disbursement of federal funds through the federal Payment Management System,” the agency stated. “Funds on hand will not cover another pay period of full staffing, so layoffs were unavoidable. If and when funding is restored the layoffs will be rescinded immediately and services restored.”
For the past 40 years, the agency has been based in Charleston.
Vouchers in Education: What They Could Mean for Public and Private Schools
They have been helping people by creating ramps and remodeling toilets to make them wheelchair accessible, providing transportation for elderly and disabled people to appointments, and educating persons who live alone in everyday duties such as budgeting and cooking.
On Friday, the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition, an organization that promotes and strengthens agriculture in the state through education and networking, stated that it will be reducing its operations because of the uncertainties surrounding the executive order.
New Directive: White House Orders End to Pronouns in Federal Agency Email Signatures
“Federal funding allows us to bring essential resources to communities, support West Virginia’s food and agriculture sector, provide technical assistance, and grow economic opportunities for farmers and food entrepreneurs,” WVFFC stated. “Every dollar we receive is invested directly into our state, and we undergo rigorous annual audits to ensure transparency and accountability.”
The Trump administration’s decision is currently facing lawsuit and legislative oversight, which means that programs will probably continue to have an uncertain future, even if federal judges have temporarily stopped the funding freeze and the memo for order has been overturned.
Leave a Comment