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Santa Clara County warns federal Medicaid, SNAP cuts will force steep local health-care reductions; places 5/8¢ sales tax on ballot
Summary
County officials told Sunnyvale council the federal "H.R.1" package will slash Medi‑Cal and CalFresh funding and directed the board to put a temporary 5/8‑cent general sales tax (Measure A) on the November ballot to avoid hospital and social‑service closures.
A delegation of Santa Clara County leaders told the Sunnyvale City Council on Sept. 9 that a federal law enacted this summer — referred to in county briefings as H.R. 1 or the “1 Big Beautiful Bill Act” — imposes unprecedented cuts to Medicaid (Medi‑Cal in California) and to the national food assistance program (CalFresh), and that those cuts will directly threaten county hospitals, clinics and social‑safety‑net programs.
“HR 1 also known as the 1 big beautiful bill act did get signed into law by President Trump on July 4,” Special Assistant to the County Executive Brian Darrow said as he opened the county presentation to the council. County health system CEO Paul Lorenz and other county staff described immediate and growing fiscal impacts and the county’s steps to respond.
The county estimates the changes could add hundreds of millions of dollars in deficits this fiscal year and more than $1 billion in later years. That is in part because the federal changes freeze or sharply reduce provider‑tax mechanisms and supplemental Medicaid payments that counties used to draw down matching federal…
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