Federal freeze threat sends shock waves through San Mateo County

The following day, legislators and nonprofits alike struggled to understand what programs in specific would be affected by potentially trillions of dollars in cuts, including $488 million in outstanding funding blocked in San Mateo County alone, staffers for U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, said. 

Minutes before the order — which was not intended to impact individual aid distribution, like food stamps or Medicaid — was set to take effect, it was temporarily blocked by U.S. District Judge Lori AliKhan, who cited executive branch overreach and violation of the First Amendment. 

If and when it does go into effect, however, the losses and confusion could be damning for services across the country, Democrats insisted. 

“The Trump administration’s decision to freeze congressionally-approved federal funding is dangerously cruel and incredibly disruptive to communities relying on support for critical services and necessary infrastructure improvements,” Mullin said in a statement released before AliKhan blocked the order.  

In San Mateo County, about $488 million of $1.5 billion awarded over the past four years could be at risk, Mullin Communications Director Samantha Weigel said in an email. Impacted programs include $107 million for homelessness services and $120 million in outstanding housing vouchers and Section 8 funding. 

That will have a fundamentally negative impact on addressing homelessness, advocates say. 

“This could make homelessness so much worse in San Mateo County and across the country,” Evelyn Stivers, San Mateo County Housing Leadership Council executive director, said. “The reason programs work is because they are reliable. That is the most important, most valuable characteristic.” 

Also at risk is $8.3 million in Community Development Block Grants — which are used for affordable housing and economic development — and $11 million outstanding for community colleges in the district, Weigel said. 

The San Mateo County Community College District is currently putting together a list of federal grants and awards that could be impacted, David McLain, director of Community and Government Relations, said. The district is also working to quell confusion and fear from students and staff about what the funding freeze means for student aid, McLain said. Though individual assistance will not be affected, that was not immediately clear. 

“Our biggest concern right now, today, is our students and employees, who were concerned when they first saw the memo, that it might impact student financial aid,” he said. 

Other San Mateo County representatives also eschewed the funding freeze, calling it an unconstitutional example of presidential overreach. 

“If you don’t think the Trump administration’s illegal impoundment of all federal funding will harm every corner of our community, consider the thousands of parents who cannot go to work if they depend on child care funded by Head Start, and the millions of residents imperiled by potential delays in the rebuilding of the Anderson Dam,” U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, said.