A new government tool aims to track federal funding cuts that affect services in Minnesota ranging from heating assistance and flood mitigation to tracking diseases.
The dashboard, announced by Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday, pulls data every weekday from agencies that report federal cuts to the Minnesota Management and Budget Office to show how the cuts affect grants and services across the state. Walz said that such federal changes happen “with little to no warning,” so the dashboard could keep residents informed. The governor recently warned state agencies to assume that their federal funding would be cut.
“Decisions made by billionaires in Washington are cutting real programs that save Minnesotans money, monitor disease outbreaks, and keep us safe. And they’re just getting started on their promised cuts to Social Security and Medicaid,” Walz said in a statement. “We want to make sure Minnesotans have a little bit of a lead time to see what’s happening; they’ll be able to see a lot of that in real time.”
A rash of federal funding cuts have affected departments and programs across the state, shuttering offices, crippling services and leaving a slew of probationary workers in limbo — including dozens of people working for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
The cuts have already disrupted vital services across the state, according to Walz’s office. In March, the federal government slashed $220 million from the state’s Department of Health; $27.5 million from the Department of Human Services; and $18 million from the Department of Agriculture.
“One in every three dollars Minnesota state government spends currently comes from the federal government,” Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Erin Campbell said in a statement announcing the dashboard.
The federal government awarded Minnesota $23.3 billion though hundreds of grants and awards this fiscal year. As of Thursday morning, the MMB dashboard said that nearly $56 million was at risk of being cut. More than $296 million has been permanently cut.
Briana Bierschbach of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.
