WEST CHICAGO, Ill.— State Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-West Chicago, joined legislators nationwide to file two separate comments opposing the Office of Management and Budget’s Proposed Rule to revamp the federal grant process. 

“Through this change in the OMB grant process, the federal government would take control over the research that non-profit organizations and scientists do in their areas of interest,” said Hirschauer. “With educational research being prohibited on what the federal administration considers to be ‘anti-American values,’ they’re actively going against the First Amendment and forcing agencies to abide by prescribed ideologies.”

The first joint comment signed by Hirschauer joined a coalition of 55 state legislators from 23 states and argued the Proposed Rule could wreak havoc on state budgets and economies. 

Since state legislators authorize multi-year capital programs, appropriate state funds, enact state budgets, and are constitutionally required to balance them, the Proposed Rule would have a significant and harmful fiscal impact on states. 

State legislators establish, fund and oversee the state agencies that administer federal awards and pass federal dollars through to local governments, school districts, public universities, housing authorities and community organizations. If the Proposed Rule comes into play, it would give federal agencies broad new powers to terminate, suspend or deny grant awards to states for partisan reasons, which could destabilize states’ funding streams and undermine states’ abilities to plan and deliver essential services. The full comment and signatories are available here.

The second joint letter highlighted the harm this rule change would cause for historically underserved communities and the undermining of programs that are specifically designed to address unmet needs and expand opportunity. In signing this letter Hirschauer joined a coalition of 199 legislators from all 50 states; The full comment and signatures are available here.

In Illinois, the Proposed Rule would create funding disruptions for local programs and community-based organizations and destabilize child care and economic security programs that support underserved communities. 

No-cost early education programs in Illinois, like Head Start, could lose funding and have reductions in services because their curriculum, which is required to implement diverse and equitable educational programming, would now be considered the “anti-American” and “woke” values the Federal administration is penalizing.

“Federal grants should be dependent on the needs of our community. These grants play a critical role for the health and wellbeing of families in the 49th district and of the communities themselves. I strongly oppose this unjust and discriminatory change.”