Cook County Connections - The Times They Are A-Changin’: Federal Freezes and Cuts

Mar 14, 2025 09:24AM ● By Content Editor

Photo provided

From Cook County, Minnesota - March 14, 2025

By: Cook County Highway Engineer Robert Kimmel-Hass

With contributions by SWCD District Manager Ilena Hansel, PHHS Director Alison McIntyre, Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers, and MIS Director/Interim Administrator Rowan Watkins

With all the recent news regarding federal funding freezes and cuts, we thought this would be a good opportunity to let our community know what all this means for Cook County. Several articles have been written across different county departments about long-range planning and utilizing unique funding sources to offset local costs and better serve our community. A lot is potential funding (think competitive grants), and many are actual cuts (money and services the community loses). So come senators and congressmen, we hope you’ll heed our call, because these freezes and cuts will and are impacting Cook County.

Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District

Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is 75% grant-funded. Throughout history, the SWCD has been successful in securing funds for day-to-day operations and implementing conservation projects with landowners. To date, there is no funding frozen yet or partners who have notified the SWCD if funding is frozen. The future implications of the known proposed federal cuts to the work Cook SWCD does with landowners, supporting and collaborating with partners, vary from year to year due to grant amounts awarded. Typically, the SWCD operates on federal funds of $200,000 - $500,000 per year.

Potential budget cuts the SWCD is currently aware of:

· $291,965/biannually and matching funds for this $116,786 (total $408,751/bi-annually)

· Funding cuts to projects with landowners doing spruce budworm treatments, farming practices, and forestry practices – amount unknown at this time

· $10,000 - $100,000 – depending on the year in funds for Lake Superior Coastal Projects, including but not limited to outreach and education, and data collection for water quality

· $190,000/ biannually to match federal funds

· No funding from Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (which historically provided stream restoration and other projects, about $500,000 annually)

Results in federal cuts: reduction in capacity for the SWCD to provide services to the community; reduction of professional expertise in conservation to assist landowners; reduction of protection of surface and groundwater and soil health in Cook County; increase in sediment and nutrient loading into the lakes and streams along with an increase in declining water quality.

Cook County Roads and Bridges

Our roads and bridges rely on state and federal funding for construction. At the highway department, we rely on grants and relationships with other governmental agencies to secure funds to improve our infrastructure. When the funding is of federal nature, the delivery time increases and typically requires about two years to deliver a project. Three specific funding opportunities were being worked on and are now paused: the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP), National Scenic Byway Program (NSBP), and Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT). These applications totaled approximately $4 million in funding that would go towards resurfacing the end of the Gunflint Trail. That project, and projects similar to it, do not happen without these funds. We’ve been successful in the past at securing funds from these sources, so while they are still potential sources, at least temporarily, we may lose access to these critical funds. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is another federal funding source utilized by the highway department to combat invasive species, cover native species revegetation efforts, and promote marketing and outreach events across the county to spread the word and not the seed about invasive species.

Cook County Public Health and Human Services

Within Public Health and Human Services (PHHS), proposed federal cuts to Medicaid could have a tremendous impact on children, persons with disabilities, seniors, and other residents served through these programs. Decreasing federal Medicaid funding also puts healthcare providers at risk. In Cook County, Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare covered $7M in health care spending at a per capita rate of $1,258 per resident in 2023. One in five residents in our county is enrolled in a Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare plan, including half of the residents under age 19. Cuts will have a direct impact on local services and put additional pressure on the levy to maintain current service levels. In 2023, 51% or $2.2M of all PHHS Department revenue came from State and Federal sources. These cuts would impact our community members directly. All age groups enrolled in these programs would be affected by these cuts. Learn more about Medicaid in Minnesota at https://mn.gov/dhs/medicaid-matters.

Cook County Emergency Management

Emergency management resources are also impacted by these freezes and cuts. The Firewise program was awarded a $37,850 wildfire mitigation grant from the DNR, which is now on hold as funding is of federal origin. Two other direct federal grant applications are also on hold – a community wildfire protection planning grant and a mitigation grant. The State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) has benefited the county’s ARMER radio and 911 system. Over half a million dollars has directly supported the county’s ability to help mitigate wildfire impacts, respond to emergencies, and plan ahead to prevent these disasters from happening.

Across the board, the federal freezes and cuts will impact almost every facet of our lives in Cook County. The roads you drive on, the services you need for your health, the lakes and streams we enjoy, and our ability to respond to and prepare for emergencies are all impacted.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or email us.

Ilena Hansel, SWCD District Manager

218-387-3648

[email protected]

Robert Kimmel-Hass, County Engineer

218-387-3014

[email protected]

Alison McIntyre, PHHS Director

218-387-3623

[email protected]

Braidy Power, Auditor-Treasurer

218-387-3646