U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer details proposed cuts in President Trump’s 2026 Federal Budget
President Donald Trump’s proposed Federal budget could have a large impact on Jamestown and Chautauqua County.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer sent out a press release on the budget, calling the proposed cuts “devastating.”
Trump’s budget proposal completely eliminates all federal funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP is the program that provides federal support to seniors & families to help pay their winter heating bills or summer cooling bills. Last year, more than 1.8 million families across New York State received nearly $400 million in LIHEAP assistance. In Chautauqua County, 16,436 households received more than $6.9 million in home energy assistance in 2024.
Trump’s budget proposal also eliminates the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Programs. Schumer said CDBG and HOME have long been cornerstones of funding for building new housing to reduce costs and increase access, economic development, and community revitalization creating jobs for Upstate NY. The City of Jamestown’s 2025 combined CDBG and HOME program funds were $1,418,525.
Trump’s budget slashes the National Institutes of Health budget by approximately $18 billion, a roughly 40% reduction. Schumer said this funding is used to study cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other life-threatening diseases. He said the cuts will lead to layoffs and “make it more difficult for sick people to receive care, and set our country back decades in developing lifesaving medical treatment.” New York State institutions received more than $3.5 billion in grant funding in FY2024.
The Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds has a proposed cut of nearly $2.5 billion which is a nearly 89% cut. Schumer said the SRFs are one of the primary federal tools for municipalities to get low-cost financing for water and sewer infrastructure projects that ensures the water New Yorkers rely on is safe and clean. He said this would affect municipalities’ ability to replace lead pipes.
According to the EPA, New York State received more than $368 million in funding from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and nearly $294 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for a total of more than $662 million in FY2024. Under Trump’s proposed FY2026 funding levels, New York State would see a reduction of nearly $580 million.
Trump’s budget proposal also would consolidate funding for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, Public Housing, Project-Based Rental Assistance, Housing for the Elderly, and Housing for Persons with Disabilities into a new State Rental Assistance Block Grant, cutting nearly $27 billion across these programs and putting the responsibility over these programs onto state and local governments. Over half a million New Yorkers rely on this assistance, the vast majority of whom are seniors, people with disabilities, and children. Schumer explained that as rent costs continue to go up across the country, the administration is slashing funding for rental assistance.
In FY2023, New York State received more than $7.4 billion across these programs that would not be consolidated into a new State Rental Assistance Block Grant and receive a massive cut of 42.8%.
The last area Schumer focused on is the elimination of more than $1.3 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grants and research programs which uniquely support the Great Lakes, including programs which helps identify storm water infrastructure in need of upgrades to ensure community safety during extreme weather events.
In addition, $209 million for weather satellites and infrastructure for timely and accurate forecasts would be canceled.
WRFA has reached out to local officials for comment on these proposed federal budget cuts.
My opinion on all these grants and money giving is Doge went in and found what most Americans already new and that is the money wasn’t getting used for what it was supposed to be getting used for. States would get the money and some would go where it wasn’t supposed to go, and the stuff that was supposed to be getting done wasn’t so it’s now getting cut. JMO
Trump’s proposals, which Republicans in Congress seem all too eager to rubber stamp, would take money away from programs that mostly help the poor in order to provide tax breaks for the very wealthy. Is this what Jesus would do? Does this make sense for the wealthiest society in the history of the world? We can well afford to be more generous than that. If they don’t get their Trump tax cuts, you know that those billionaires won’t end up sleeping under a bridge somewhere.