Fears of cuts to an office that offers energy assistance and support for families across Chattanooga and the state of Tennessee prompted conversation about the state of federal funding Tuesday.
Chattanooga City Council member Ron Elliott of Missionary Ridge asked officials from the office of Mayor Tim Kelly what will happen if the federal government slashes spending on programs run through the city’s Office of Family Empowerment. The office runs programs that include the Family Support Program and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
“That is a concern that we do have and a challenge,” said Carol Hunter, administrator of the city’s Department of Community Development. “We’re just asking everybody to spread the word about the important work that we as a community action agency are doing.”
Federal and state support for the office amounts to $9.2 million, according to a draft budget for the next fiscal year.
Elliott said during a discussion following Hunter’s comments he had asked for and wanted to see a contingency plan from the city. He asked Kelly’s chief of staff, Kevin Roig, what the city will do if federal funding doesn’t come through. How can the city take care of its staff and continue its programming, he asked Roig.
Chattanooga lawmaker questions plan if federal funds cut
“I’m more pressed on this one because I will admit: This is personal for me, because I’ve worked in all of this for a while, and I understand the importance of this work,” Elliott said.
Roig, who worked as a Republican legislative staffer in Congress for years, replied that the city can’t take over federal funding if it’s cut. But the city is keeping a close eye on federal spending discussions, and it expects current proposals to change before becoming law, he said. If that funding is cut, he said the city will work with its staff on placements.
That wasn’t sufficient, Elliott said.
“I hear that,” Elliott said. “But I think what I’m asking is, how can we think bolder and larger about this, right? Just because the funding’s no longer there does not mean these people are any less capable of doing really great social services work.
“I think one of the things that frustrates me the most is how easily it seems like we dispose of our employees when things don’t seem like it works out,” he said, referencing changes to staffing in the city’s technology office. “You may have a lot more faith in the federal government than I do, but I don’t.
“I don’t trust none of them up there,” he said.
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Elliott told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that it was the seeming lack of a plan that he was concerned about.
“Now, we know something’s coming down the hill. You see it rolling,” he said in an interview. “Are you going to prepare to step aside, or are you going to just let yourself get run over?”
At the end of a set of meetings Tuesday, Roig offered another response to Elliott’s points. The city has already received federal funding for the energy assistance program for this year, he said, through a law holding spending steady through September.
The funding is not likely to dissipate going forward, he said.
“The thing about the way the process works up there is that anytime you want to go in and make radical changes to a program that people rely on, it’s like stepping into an ants’ nest,” Roig said.
“The president’s budget proposal does matter,” he said. “It does have an influence because it does send a signal.”
Contact Mariah Franklin at mfranklin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.