Frozen Funds Jeopardize Montana Projects Including Those to Improve Infrastructure, Fire Prevention & Firefighting, Watershed Protections and Flood Prevention
Senate Committee on Appropriations issues update
By Denise Rivette
The Vice Chair of the U.S Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Patty Murray, put out a State-of-Play document outlining what is known and unknown about the funding freezes in effect and on the horizon. While the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo freezing all funding was rescinded, President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EO) were not. Those EOs currently in effect include the freeze on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act(IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Funding. In Montana, projects in jeopardy of losing funding include: High-speed broadband deployment; hazardous fuel reduction in National Parks and Forests; National Parks maintenance and staffing; $3.26 billion funding to upgrade roads and bridges; and grants for farmers for watershed protection and flood prevention. The full document is presented below:
