Wisconsin infrastructure projects in limbo after Trump freezes funding

For more than five years, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza and the city’s forester have wanted to help property owners plant fruit trees in their yards.

It would help accomplish a few of the city’s goals in one fell swoop: help the environment by planting more trees, help residents gain better access to fresh food, protect wildlife habitats, lower energy costs, and potentially spark a wave of tree planting and gardening in the community.

But the small city of just under 26,000 people could never find space in its budget to make the program happen. Other major needs, such as new fire trucks or snowplows, took priority.

This spring, however, the city will finally be able to launch the program with the help of a $105,500 federal grant from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by former President Joe Biden.

“Budgets are tight for everybody, but smaller cities are really feeling the impact, because there’s not as much flexibility or wiggle room within the budget,” Wiza said. “We’ve talked about it for years, but it was through this funding that the whole thing became possible.”

That federal funding might disappear under President Donald Trump, though, after he signed an executive order freezing funding allocated under the IRA and the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul joined other state attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging Trump’s failure to comply with a court order that he unfreeze the federal funds.

Wisconsin has received at least $6.9 billion in infrastructure funding from the IRA and IIJA, as well as from the American Rescue Plan and the CHIPS and Science Act, according to information provided by the Biden administration in May 2024.

Those funds have been used to support a wide variety of projects, such as fixing roads and bridges, cleaning up pollution, helping residents and businesses save on energy costs and install solar panels, improving electric vehicle infrastructure, building bike and walking paths, reducing flood risks, replacing lead pipes in homes and businesses and more. These projects have created new jobs for Wisconsinites.

Stevens Point’s fruit tree program is just one of the city’s federally funded infrastructure projects. Most of the funding has gone for road and utility repairs, Wiza said. This maintenance has been challenging for the city to keep up with, Wiza said, but the federal aid has helped it play catch-up.

The city also launched a new first-time homebuyer assistance program and beefed up some of its existing programs, including its rental conversion program, which helps property owners convert rental properties back to single-family homes, and home improvement grants.

But now the fate of these programs and funding for future projects is uncertain.

“It’s going to be an interesting few weeks and months here to figure out how this is all shaking out, without getting some of that money back from the federal government,” he said. “It’s not like if someone is giving us money. It’s money that we’ve already given the federal government, and we expect some return on that. … That’s our money to begin with, and it should come back to the communities that invested in that so we can do what we need to do to keep our communities safe and strong and vibrant.”

For now, the city of Stevens Point plans to keep moving forward on the projects that are funded. Come spring, the city will receive an order of about 150 fruit trees. The city is selecting trees that self-pollinate and are hardy enough to thrive in central Wisconsin, such as pear and plum trees, and property owners will be able to place orders to receive a tree. The city will provide the homeowner with information on how to plant and care for the tree. In addition to the fruit trees, the city will also use the grant to plant about 100 shade trees along city streets. The city already plants new shade trees each year, and the funding will help support those efforts this year.

Wiza said the projects are worthwhile investments. The residents of Stevens Point are excited about the tree planting program, he said, because they see the benefits it will have for the environment, and for their own lives. He said being able to go to your backyard to pick a fresh pear or apple provides a “feel-good” experience.

“The benefits to the community are numerous, and that’s why I think it’s a pretty good investment, especially since we were able to get some funding to help the program happen. If it’s successful, and I think it will be, we will certainly be looking at ways to incorporate that into our regular budget to keep the program going,” he said.

“And with any luck, this will have a snowball effect, right? Maybe we plant one apple tree, and they like it so much that next year they want to plant a pear tree. Or, you know, maybe they’ll start their own raised-bed gardens, or it’ll be something that, boy, the kids really got excited about it, and now they want to do a spot in their community garden,” Wiza said. “So I hope this snowballs and turns into kind of a movement, if you will.”