Governor Shapiro has filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over the freeze in Federal spending.
Shapiro's lawsuit says even after multiple court orders to release funds, various Pennsylvania agencies are still unable to access more than a billion dollars in federal funds.
And, another $900 million is on hold pending further federal review.
While he's been working with the Congressional delegation to restore access to the money, Shapiro says because PA was not part of previous litigation, it doesn't guarantee the Commonwealth would receive funds once there's a ruling in those cases.
So as of now, Pennsylvania is incurring debts to cover funding for federally approved spending.
The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District Federal Court.
Read more about the lawsuit here.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato released the following statement about the lawsuit:
“I’m pleased the Shapiro administration is taking legal action to secure the federal funding Pennsylvanians were promised and deserve. The Trump Administration is causing chaos by freezing and clawing back funds that communities are counting on.
Across IIJA and IRA projects, the hastily announced and retracted freezes on all federal grants, NIH funding, and more, Allegheny County relies on hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding annually. Abruptly cutting or ending federal programs will be a massive disruption for our communities and to our local economy.”