<div dir="ltr"><div>Greetings,</div><div><br></div><div>There are a number of things happening at the federal level right now. </div><div><br></div><div>For folks who file for E-Rate for their branches, or folks who were considering filing for Category 2 or hotspots this year, there may have been additional questions in the last day or two. </div><div><br></div><div>Lorrie Germann has shared a succinct summary and some good advice, which we wanted to pass along to you as well.</div><div><br></div><div>Best wishes,</div><div><br></div><div>Christine</div><div>--<div>Christine Morris (she/her)<br></div><div>Digital Resources Manager<br></div><div>Ohio Public Library Information Network</div><div><a href="mailto:christine@oplin.ohio.gov" target="_blank">christine@oplin.ohio.gov</a></div><div>614-728-5252 (OPLIN Support)</div><div>614-728-0227 (direct)<br></div></div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Lorrie Germann</b> <span dir="auto"><e-rate@ohio-k12.help></span><br>Date: Wed, Jan 29, 2025 at 8:50 AM<br>Subject: Impact of Federal Funding Pause on E-Rate<br></div><br><br><div class="msg-2105846934412894873">
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Good morning E-Rate Community,<br><br>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">I’m sure you’ve likely heard, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo directing all federal agencies to pause making obligations or disbursements of all federal financial assistance as of 5:00 p.m. yesterday (1/28/2025). </span><br><br>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">Later in the day, OMB released a memo with clarifying questions and answers (listed below) that appeared to narrow the scope of its original memo. The Q and A stated that only certain funding is affected -- programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President’s earlier Executive Orders that repeal DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest. OMB stated: “Any program not implicated by the President’s Executive Orders is not subject to the pause.” </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white"></span><br>
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<li><i><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white"> Q: Is this a freeze on all Federal financial assistance?</span></b></i></li>
<li style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:15px;line-height:24px;text-align:left;margin-bottom:10px"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">A: No, the pause does not apply across-the-board. It is expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President’s Executive Orders, such as ending DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest. </span></li>
<li><i><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">Q: Is this a freeze on benefits to Americans like SNAP or student loans?</span></b></i></li>
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<li style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:15px;line-height:24px;text-align:left;margin-bottom:10px"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">A: No, any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process. In addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause.</span></i></li>
<li style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:15px;line-height:24px;text-align:left;margin-bottom:10px"><i style="background-color:inherit"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused. If agencies are concerned that these programs may implicate the President’s Executive Orders, they should consult OMB to begin to unwind these objectionable policies without a pause in the payments.</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white"> </span></li>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">Just before 5:00 p.m. yesterday evening, a federal judge blocked the funding pause until Monday afternoon. The court will hear arguments on Monday to consider next steps.</span><br><br>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white"> Hopefully, by Monday, we will know with more certainty which programs are actual targets of the proposed funding pause and what this will mean for the impacted programs over the next several weeks, should the court allow the pause to continue.</span><br><br>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white"> </span>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white"> I will keep you posted as we learn more. <b>For now, it’s business as usual. Continue with your FY 2025 procurements, Form 472 BEAR filings, and Form 471 submissions. </b> </span><br><br>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">Sincerely,</span><br><br>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;color:#222222;background:white">Lorrie</span>
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State E-Rate Coordinator<br><span>Ohio Department of Education & Workforce</span><br><span><a href="mailto:lorrie.germann@education.ohio.gov" target="_blank">lorrie.germann@education.ohio.gov</a></span><br><span>740-253-1153</span><br><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:'Calibri',sans-serif"><a href="https://www.ohio-k12.help?mailpoet_router&endpoint=track&action=click&data=WyIxMTgwNSIsIjkwZjI3MzQ0ZjU0Y2U1YzM2ODM0YTMxYmVjMzE5YWNkIiwiMjQzIiwiZGM0NGM3ZWNiZWUwIixmYWxzZV0" style="color:#21759b;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">https://www.ohio-k12.help/e-rate-support/</a></span><br>
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