E-bike vouchers and rooftop solar? Maybe not as local nonprofits face ongoing federal funding freeze

Dozens of climate resilience projects across Southern California face an uncertain future as the Trump administration continues to enact sweeping federal funding pauses and cuts.

That includes a group of projects in the San Gabriel Valley that LAist recently reported on called Green SGV, which invests in a range of actions, including vouchers for San Gabriel Valley residents to purchase e-cargo bikes, transforming asphalt yards at schools into green spaces, planting thousands of trees, installing rooftop solar, and designing a new bike greenway in South El Monte.

But now the money to fund that work has been paused for the second time.

“It's mighty stressful,” said David Diaz, executive director of Active San Gabriel Valley, one of the nonprofits leading the project. “When you have a contractual agreement with the federal government, you would think that that would bring a great sense of reliability and consistency.”

The background

The $20-million grant to fund the projects came from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and launched this January. Funding through the three-year contract was frozen after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in late January pausing federal grants and other programs already approved by Congress.

After legal challenges, the funding was briefly unfrozen, but now it’s back to being inaccessible again, Diaz said.

More than 20 states, including California, have filed lawsuits in response, and two judges have paused the freeze, saying the order is unconstitutional. The Trump administration is expected to appeal.

'Fiscal gymnastics'

Meanwhile, nonprofits to local governments are left working to implement projects without knowing if they’ll receive the funding they thought they had already secured.

“Organizations are having to do what we're calling ‘fiscal gymnastics’ around trying to implement without a clear path of getting reimbursed or compensated for doing the work,” Diaz said. “ We're small, we're small-to-medium nonprofits. We don't have large endowments. We don't have big cash savings set aside.”

What’s next and what you can do

The e-cargo bike voucher program for San Gabriel Valley residents is still accepting applications, but the vouchers won’t be released until the federal funding is made available again. Those who already applied will have their spot saved in line.

For the longer-term projects, Diaz said he and Green SGV's partners are speaking with philanthropic organizations and banks about filling in the potential gap with more grants and credit lines.

“ We and our partners are exploring what's feasible and responsible to stay in compliance with implementing the project as intended, which was really meant to address historical environmental justice and public health inequities that are prevalent and prominent in the San Gabriel Valley,” Diaz said.

Diaz said he hopes community members will speak up if they value efforts like Green SGV and similar projects across Southern California.

“Talk to your congressional representatives,” Diaz said. “Engage with local community-based organizations.”