April 18, 2025
On 3/24 NYS leaders received a communication from HHS notifying that it had terminated a number of federal grant supplementals that very day, to include some of the CMHS Block Grant COVID 19 and ARPA funds implemented during the Biden Administration, and the SAMHSA SUPTR Supplemental Grants I & 2. As you know, some of these grants were already scheduled to expire, and the state had been trying to make plans to move some of the programs and services impacted by this termination, under an alternative funding stream however the chaos and uncertainty that ensued has caused great stress for impacted providers and the individuals we serve as they learn about this situation.
On 3/25 the NYS Council took two immediate steps in which we issued a letter to the Governor, legislative leaders and state agency commissioners calling for federal and state leaders to create two Contingency Funds that would permit agencies to ensure continuity of care and to manage this crisis while it played out in the courts and in the days to come. We also formally urged the OASAS and OMH Commissioners to take full advantage of the appeals process states were entitled to pursue in response to the notice of termination of the impacted grants.
Shortly after the termination notice went out to states, Attorneys General in 17 states (including New York) sued the Administration in a federal court in Rhode Island, objecting to the terminations. The immediate request to the court was for the court to issue an injunction and a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) prohibiting the Administration from moving forward with the grant terminations, and requiring the federal government to restore the ability for impacted providers and states to draw down federal funds. Ultimately a Rhode Island federal judge granted the TRO until at least April 16 (yesterday) at which time the parties were to meet to discuss the future of the litigation and the grants programs. In the interim the AGs expanded their request of the Court to permanently prohibit the terminations. Yesterday the Rhode Island federal court judge presiding over this and similar cases ruled that the Temporary Restraining Order will continue while the parties air out their grievances and to pursue their litigation strategies. This includes a decision by the Trump Administration to appeal the federal court ruling and the TRO.
The NYS Council will continue to track this case closely. In addition we will shake every tree and exploit every opportunity we have to compel state and federal leaders to lean in and fight back against the unfair and deeply cynical terminations that have already been / are currently being issued by the new Administration.
It should be noted that in the majority of similar cases brought to the federal bench in Rhode Island, the court has ruled against the Administration citing that while the Executive does indeed have the power to pursue its policy goals, the execution of these goals and the impact of the terminations without prior notice, is not acceptable.