Roughly $4 Million a Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 15, 2025
Contact: nahmed@ncdoj.gov
919-538-2809
RALEIGH – In his first year in office, Attorney General Jeff Jackson has successfully protected more than $1.5 billion in North Carolina taxpayer dollars after federal agencies attempted to unlawfully withhold or cut funding owed to the state.
That amount equals approximately 5 percent of North Carolina’s FY24 state budget, or about $4 million per day.
“This is $1.5 billion that North Carolinians already paid in federal taxes and that federal agencies unlawfully tried to divert away from our state,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “This was money for education, health care, western North Carolina recovery, law enforcement, and food for our kids. So we took them to court – and won. Our tax money belongs here at home, and we’ll always fight to protect it.”
Download the full video clip here.
Out of the approximately 10,000 cases the Department of Justice is currently handling, Attorney General Jackson has filed 18 cases against federal agencies to protect our tax dollars. In every case Attorney General Jackson has filed against the federal government, the North Carolina Department of Justice has been able to present evidence that a federal agency had broken the law and harmed our state.
These cases include:
- A lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education for cutting more than $165 million in public education funding and nearly 1,000 educator jobs just weeks before the school year began. Within weeks of Attorney General Jackson taking legal action, he won the case, and the federal government restored the frozen funding back to North Carolina and other states.
- A lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of Management and Budget for refusing to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the government shutdown and withholding $230 million in food assistance for 1.4 million North Carolinians, including nearly 600,000 children. The court ruled in favor of Attorney General Jackson and ordered the federal government to pay benefits, which it did within days.
- A lawsuit challenging FEMA’s cancellation of more than $200 million in disaster preparedness grants to local North Carolina governments to enhance water and sewer infrastructure and prepare for future flooding and storm damage. The court entered summary judgment in favor of Attorney General Jackson and ordered FEMA to reinstate the program.
- A lawsuit to prevent the National Institutes of Health from unlawfully stripping more than $123 million in funds that support cutting-edge medical and public health research at universities and research institutions in North Carolina. Attorney General Jackson won a permanent injunction in this case, which was recently affirmed on appeal, allowing our state-of-art universities to continue life-saving research.
- A lawsuit against FEMA for withholding $17 million in state funds for emergency management, disaster relief, and homeland security operations. The court rejected the federal government’s unlawful conditions on the grants and entered summary judgment in favor of Attorney General Jackson.
- A lawsuit against AmeriCorps for withholding $2.6 million and cutting several jobs and grants that supported western North Carolina recovery. The federal government agreed to return the funds to North Carolina after Attorney General Jackson won a preliminary injunction.
- A lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for cutting more than $154 million due to North Carolina to help more than 12,000 low-income and rural households save an average of 20 percent on their utility bills. The federal government agreed to not move funds out of the Solar for All program while litigation continues.
- A lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for terminating more than $230 million in critical health care funding to address substance abuse and mental health treatment programs. The cuts have been temporarily blocked after Attorney General Jackson won a preliminary injunction.
- A lawsuit over the unlawful funding freeze ordered by the Office of Management and Budget that halted several streams of money amounting to more than $29 million to North Carolina. The policy was blocked while the case is on appeal.
- A lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for requiring the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to implement new complex guidance for SNAP eligibility in a 24-hour period and threatening to withhold $425 million in SNAP funds if it was not immediately implemented correctly. A court entered a preliminary injunction in favor of Attorney General Jackson.
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