[OPLINTECH] Fwd: Impact of Federal Funding Pause on E-Rate

[Christine Morris]

Greetings,

There are a number of things happening at the federal level right now.

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.

Lorrie Germann has shared a succinct summary and some good advice, which we
wanted to pass along to you as well.

Best wishes,

Christine
--
Christine Morris (she/her)
Digital Resources Manager
Ohio Public Library Information Network
christine at oplin.ohio.gov
614-728-5252 (OPLIN Support)
614-728-0227 (direct)


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Lorrie Germann <e-rate at ohio-k12.help>
Date: Wed, Jan 29, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Subject: Impact of Federal Funding Pause on E-Rate


Good morning E-Rate Community,

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).

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.”

   - * Q: Is this a freeze on all Federal financial assistance?*
   - 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.
   - *Q: Is this a freeze on benefits to Americans like SNAP or student
   loans?*



   - *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.*
   - *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.*

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.

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.

I will keep you posted as we learn more. *For now, it’s business as usual.
Continue with your FY 2025 procurements, Form 472 BEAR filings, and Form
471 submissions. *

Sincerely,

Lorrie
*Lorrie Germann*
State E-Rate Coordinator
Ohio Department of Education & Workforce
lorrie.germann at education.ohio.gov
740-253-1153
https://www.ohio-k12.help/e-rate-support/
<https://www.ohio-k12.help?mailpoet_router&endpoint=track&action=click&data=WyIxMTgwNSIsIjkwZjI3MzQ0ZjU0Y2U1YzM2ODM0YTMxYmVjMzE5YWNkIiwiMjQzIiwiZGM0NGM3ZWNiZWUwIixmYWxzZV0>
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