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Federal agencies illegally restrict Pennsylvania agencies for financing access for programs such as solar for all and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, said the Governor of State Josh Shapiro, D , in a lawsuit filed on Thursday.
“Since January 27, 2025, federal agencies have restricted the capacity of Pennsylvania agencies to access financing for grant programs, which, in total, forced more than $ 3.1 billion to Pennsylvania during the 2022 fiscal years. 2026, “says the demand.
This financing includes $ 156 million for inflation reduction law for all programs, which the demand cites as an example of granting grant where the state has already executed an agreement for a sub -health. The state “has an agreement with Philadelphia Green Capital Corporation to underline $ 70 million,” according to demand.
“Many of these subsidies programs have deadlines through which the Commonwealth agencies must use their grant award,” says the demand. “However, the federal agencies are now unilaterally and arbitrarily suspected or restricting the access of the Commonwealth agencies to the appropriate congressional grant funds that have been committed to them.”
The executive order of President Donald Trump’s first day Undo the American energy He directed that “all agencies must immediately pause the appropriate funding through the Act of Inflation Reduction of 2022 or the Law on Investment and Infrastructure”.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court by the Eastern Pennsylvania district. Shapiro, the Pensilvania Environmental Protection Department, or Department, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources of Pensylvania, the Pensilvania Department Transportation and the Department of Community Development and Economic Development of Pensilvania are appointed claimants.
Shapiro is the first governor to start a lawsuit against the Trump administration on funding freezing, but Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, D, on Thursday joined a lawsuit filed by the General Lawyers representing 22 states.
The accused are the Department of the Interior of the United States, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Department of Transportation and the Management and Budget Office, so as the head of each department or agency.
Despite “two temporary containment orders required federal agencies to restore access to suspended funds”, the plaintiffs cannot access the funding appropriate to these programs, according to the demand.
Demand also claims that federal agencies have threatened not to refund Pennsylvania’s agencies if the Federal Agency does not support the activities of the sub -teams that received aid for IRAs and the Investment Investment Law and Places of Work.
“The Commonwealth, therefore, violates its obligations to subrecipients by retaining money, or risks the refund later by the federal government,” says the complaint.
Demand says DOE returns the repayment of two DEP grants for $ 127 million to improve energy efficiency in low income The houses, as well as a subsidy of $ 186 million for the Health Assistance Program of the Department of Community and Economic Development of Pensilvania, until DOE ends a review of the subsidies.
Depends also cannot receive reimbursement for expenses of the remaining $ 76 million in funding that the IIJA was assigned to the agency to “connect, solve and restore orphaned wells” that, without remedy claim.
A shadow document published on January 28 stated that the administration pause on the disbursement of federal funding is “limited to programs, projects and activities involved by the President’s executive orders”, including “The Green New Deal”, A phrase Trump has used to refer to anger, as well as parts of the IIja.
The lawsuit calls on the court to declare illegal freezing and to “fool the agencies accused of freezing, pause, conditioning or interfere with” the disbursement of these funds from the state agencies of Pennsylvania.
