Springfield’s housing department could lose out on millions of dollars for environmental projects, as the Trump administration fails to honor federal contracts.
At the end of 2024, Springfield signed a contract on a $20 million dollar federal grant from the Environmental Protection Administration, which was meant to help communities address pollution and be resilient in the face of climate change. It was part of the Inflation Reduction Act, passed under the Biden administration.
Springfield housing director Gerry McCafferty said the city spent months planning for projects such as fixing leaky roofs, converting houses to heat pumps, reconfiguring roads to decrease car idling and reduce asthma.
But after President Donald Trump took office, she said, their grant account was suddenly frozen and no one in the government would tell the city what to expect.
As a result, the project is on hold and McCafferty doesn't know when or whether it will restart.
"We can't hire, and we can't give contracts to other agencies because we won't be able to pay on them," she said. "So we're just in this limbo state again with a lot of really important projects."
McCafferty says she has asked Massachusetts’ congressional delegation to help get answers and is waiting for the results of lawsuits around the country contesting many cancelled or frozen federal grants that had already been awarded.
