The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reinstate funding to the University of Maine in a reversal of its move to pause the funding on Monday.
Maine Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced Wednesday night that funding for the important programs has resumed.
More than $56 million in grants were affected, including more than $32 million scheduled for payment in the coming months and years.
The USDA initially held up funding over possible Title VI and Title IX civil rights violations because of Maine’s transgender sports policy.
It came after a public confrontation between Governor Janet Mills and President Trump over Maine allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports despite Trump’s executive order banning the practice.
Collins said the USDA funding at the University of Maine supports a wide range of activities including research into PFAS contamination, potatoes, blueberries, apples, building materials, 4-H, and UMaine’s Tick Lab.
“This USDA funding is critically important not only to the University of Maine, but to our farmers and loggers, as well as to the many people who work in Maine’s agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry industries. Now that funding has been restored, the work that the University does in partnership with the many people and communities who depend on these programs can continue,” said Senator Collins in a statement Wednesday night.
