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Community conversation focuses on federal cuts 

As part of her continuing Congress in Your Community tour, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) visited the Town of Fort Deposit Wednesday, April 23. Joined by agency leaders serving Lowndes County residents, Sewell addressed potential impacts of the Trump Administration’s proposed federal funding cuts to education, healthcare, food assistance and other vital services.

Prior to a 1 p.m. community conversation which was open to the public, Sewell met with local officials and held a press conference to introduce the discussion.

“Alabamians in my district alone, who rely on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to put food on the table, to cut off or reduce their benefits, would force thousands of Alabamians to go hungry needlessly,” Sewell said. “Meanwhile, Elon Musk and his band of bros have taken a chainsaw to so many programs that Alabamians depend upon.”

The Congresswoman touched on a few cuts she said the President has made already — such as firing thousands of Social Security Administration workers — and explaining how such measures would reduce critical services to seniors.

“These cuts are more than just statistics,” Sewell said. “They are about lives and livelihoods.”

Touching on the Department of Justice (DOJ) directive terminating a settlement agreement with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), Sewell expressed frustration with the directive’s impact on Lowndes County.

“Earlier this month, the Trump Administration Department of Justice terminated an environmental justice agreement that was made with Lowndes County, right here in Fort Deposit,” Sewell said. “This environmental justice agreement was years in the making. It had nothing to do with diversity, equity and inclusion, as the Department of Justice said, but it was about addressing a public health crisis that has forced generations of children and families to endure health hazards associated with being in proximity to raw sewage, as the DOJ itself documented in its investigation. 

“By terminating this agreement, the Trump administration has made it blatantly clear that they have a disregard for the constituents. It has placed a blatant, blatant disregard for the health of my constituents on full display by doing away with this agreement. It is not only outrageous, it is cruel. Without support from the Trump administration, I believe it is vital that the Alabama Department of Public Health continue to do its part in remedying this situation.

Sewell said she met with Dr. Scott Harris, ADPH director, earlier Wednesday to discuss the agency’s continued commitment to Alabama and in “righting the wrong” of citizens living with wastewater on the ground. The congresswoman pledged her continued support in the struggle to provide properly-working septic systems for Black Belt communities.

“My team and I have been working every day to provide federal resources and funding to our district to improve the wastewater conditions in Lowndes County and throughout the Black Belt,” Sewell said. “We have worked to pass legislation, secure federal funding and repeatedly [brought in] researchers and cabinet officials to bring attention to this crisis. To be clear, this problem will not be solved overnight, but we know that over decades-long work has helped set the stage for this DOJ agreement that was announced by the Biden administration.”

Leaders from agencies serving Lowndes County joined Sewell for a public discussion outlining potential impacts from federal funding cuts on the services they provide. Lowndes County Superintendent, Samita Jeter, Health Services Inc. CEO, Gilbert F. Darrington, Heart of Alabama Food Bank CEO, Michael Coleman and Mary Wedgeworth, Alabama Affairs Coordinator and program director for South Central Alabama Development Commission participated in a panel discussion, after which the panel entertained questions from the audience.

Jeter said Lowndes County Public Schools have not yet realized the full impact from federal cuts on the 1,100 students in the system. Her staff and the school board are waiting and vigilant to see what may yet come from the Trump Administration’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

“We are not exactly certain what direction Trump is going with the dismantling of the Department of Education,” Jeter said. “However, we do expect that every federal educational program will be affected in some way or another.” 

So far, Jeter said she has learned that some federal programs will be shifted to different agencies. She expressed concerns over what financial, legal or civil rights concerns could result from those shifts.

“That’s not something our board is wanting to take on,” Jeter said. “But that could be the end result. The structure and oversight of the programs, such as IDEA, which stands for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the special education, those efforts could be cut. And in our district, we have quite a few students that are qualified as special education, whether it’s gifted, whether its speech, there are several different, several different areas that are categorized under special education. So our Title One funds which serve children in high poverty, and we are a Title One district. Even Title Three [which] helps with English language learners, [could be impacted]. We have some of those, and it’s just something we’ll be watching closely.”

One particular concern, Jeter noted, is whether Head Start funding will be cut by expected changes. The program serves three- through five-year-old children and their families. 

“Head Start is an early childhood program,” Jeter said. “It’s been here in Lowndes County for over 50 years. So to lose Head Start, that will be very detrimental to our community, because at that point, where would our young children go to get educational services at that age? And it does not only just serve the children; it serves the families. So, there are many services that Head Start provides to our children and their families, and that will be a detrimental loss if we lose Head Start.

The panel discussed potential impacts to food assistance and healthcare programs as well. To view the entire conversation, follow The Lowndes Signal on social media.