Manchester Cricket Editor Erika Brown sat down with Massachusetts Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, Vice Chair of the MA House Ways & Means Committee, to discuss the chaos in Washington and what federal spending cuts could mean for Cape Ann.
Erika Brown: Thanks for speaking to us. Since January, how has it been dealing with the federal government funding changes?
Rep. Ferrante: I’d say the best word is “chaotic.” It started early on. We saw grants awarded under the Biden administration—particularly for science and climate research—being clawed back. Our state budgeting starts in March and concludes in June and there’s a lag between us and the federal budget cycle that intensifies in October.
We’re used to this. Typically, a new administration gives us an idea of what to expect based on its policy and priorities. But this administration changes by the whim of the president's decision-making. The president’s decisions in the morning when he wakes up can easily change throughout the day, so it's not about policy. Again, the best way I can describe it is chaotic.
EB: We’ve seen this locally. In Essex, a $3 million federal PROTECT grant to replace the Causeway bridge that now floods 4-5 times a year disappeared before the February application deadline. And in Manchester, a $4.5 million grant for the Central Street culvert was awarded, pulled, and later restored.
AMF: That’s what I mean by chaos. These aren’t fringe projects. These are vital to addressing sea level rise and infrastructure vulnerabilities. But the administration is treating climate policy like it’s something from the past—here one day, gone the next. You can’t plan when federal support is pulled or reinstated on a whim.
EB: The Manchester culvert has major implications for both environmental resilience and economic development. It supports not just flooding mitigation but also regional utility infrastructure.
AMF: Right—and the frustrating thing is, there’s no policy rationale for these decisions. It’s hard to engage with federal officials when entire categories of funding vanish overnight, not because of fraud or abuse, but because the President is upset over something unrelated. What happened at Harvard is a great example, where researchers working on ALS or cancer get defunded without warning in response to an entirely different area. It’s not how government should work.
EB: Two more local examples: Washington is proposing to eliminate coastal navigational buoys off Cape Ann, and Manchester secured $600,000 in Homeland Security funds for two boats that have been frozen.
AMF: The US Coast Guard has issued notices for public comment about removing buoys in places like the Annisquam River.
EB: In Manchester, we've had a buoy removed for maintenance reasons but they're not putting it back ...
AMF: Interesting. Again, you know we're talking about things that are essential, and navigation is essential. I would, in my best Cape Ann vernacular, challenge any federal official to float alongside any boat along the Annisquam on any given 90-degree day and, then, really judge whether we need buoys or whether GPS would satisfy. Any boater knows GPS isn’t enough when you’re navigating real obstacles like rocks or currents. Removing buoys to save a few dollars risks human lives. It’s an example of a short-sighted decision with extraordinary potential long-term costs.
EB: Have you seen anything like this in your time at the State House?
AMF: The closest was the 2008–2010 financial crisis, there were economic forces at work creating the chaos and by watching the markets we could roughly deduce the trends or the direction where things were going. This current chaos is being generated by one individual.
EB: Let’s talk about food insecurity. The SNAP program is facing cuts that would increase the state’s share by 50%. And it’s not just about food. There are big regional impacts to the economy because those dollars are spent on Cape Ann. What’s your take?
AMF: SNAP helps individuals and families who are the most disadvantaged and challenged. You know, I like to joke that I'm Italian and what keeps me up at night is, "Did everybody have enough food to eat?" You start messing with SNAP, and you start messing with the most basic building blocks of what people need in order to get there through their day. Food is not a luxury, it's a necessity. And malnutrition leads to downstream health costs, so from a purely financial perspective, it’s far cheaper to feed someone than to treat them for preventable illness.
But there’s also a moral imperative: What kind of country are we if we save money by letting people go to bed hungry?
The idea that the state can just absorb a $700 million shortfall from federal SNAP cuts is unrealistic. Massachusetts doesn’t have that kind of money lying around. This is the federal government’s obligation, and they’re walking away from it. Beyond SNAP, cutting of Medicare and Medicaid should make everyone nervous. We’re talking about 11 to 15 million people losing coverage nationally. In Massachusetts, federal health reimbursements total about $16 billion—that’s billion, with a “b.” That’s not something we can backfill.
At that point, these cuts are an all-out assault, and I think it creates a lot of anxiety for a lot of people, for both lawmakers trying to figure all this out and the people who are dependent upon these services. At the end of the day, I remain unconvinced that these are purely budgetary issues and not issues of intimidation, fear, and cruelty.
EB: Cape Ann has a dense network of nonprofits—I’m thinking Action Inc., Wellspring, Open Door, North Shore Health Project, and others. Are you hearing from them?
AMF: I hear from all of them. I hear from Wellspring about housing cuts, or workforce development cuts. I hear from Peggy Heggerty-Steck from Action Inc. about fuel assistance cuts or assistance cuts. I hear from Julie LaFontaine at The Open Door about SNAP cuts. And there's also the nonprofits you may not think about—hospital systems, universities, technical or private school nonprofits. There is great fear amongst all of them.
But with nonprofits, we have to think about private philanthropy, and the impact on that too. In her original budget, the governor proposed a cap on charitable deductions at $10,000 to generate revenue. Currently there is no cap, and we believed lowering it would discourage major gifts at a time when we need them most—especially for capital projects like the Sawyer Free Library or Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester. We pulled that idea because we want to encourage them to give, especially now.
EB: Is there a “Plan B” being hatched at the state level in the face of this chaos? Some sort of contingency plan?
AMF: We’re monitoring the situation closely, but the landscape shifts daily. Remember, there’s that caveat of the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that goes beyond just the budget. It’s impacting policy, it's impacting governance of the courts, it's impacting all kinds of things so a lot of people are chiming in—legislators, the business community, even the Federal Reserve Bank. We have a long way to go before we actually see concrete decisions.
That said, we’re making our priorities clear. A good example is Head Start, which has taken an $18.5 million hit. That program helps with everything from preschool access to school lunches. We can’t cut food for kids. At the same time, where does the money come from? We have to balance compassion and realism.
EB: Weird times, for sure. Thank you, Rep. Ferrante. Any final thoughts?
AMF: The only thing that I would say is that I hope people who have the means and ability to help their communities step up. I know it’s summer, and we’re supposed to be thinking about fun. But I encourage everyone to learn about what's going to be cut and the pain that is going to be felt by their neighbors. Ultimately, I hope those who can will come together to make sure that we do everything possible to limit the hurt and pain that comes in our community.
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