Tompkins officials warn county services could face disruption if proposed federal Medicaid cuts proceed

Tompkins Intergovernmental Relations Committee members and visiting state and federal representatives warned May 7 that proposed federal budget changes could force difficult trade-offs for local services if Medicaid or other federal funding streams are cut.

The committee heard from Harris Weiss, the governor’s regional representative for the Southern Tier, who asked local officials to keep the governor’s office informed about impacts. “We are not gonna be able to fill every gap, just because ... that’s a lot of money,” Weiss said, urging counties to forward examples the office can elevate to Albany.

Why it matters: New York receives a large share of its budget from federal sources; committee presenters and county officials said cuts to Medicaid or other federal programs could result in hospital and nursing-home pressures, reduced services for people who rely on safety-net programs and tougher choices in county budgets.

Discussion highlights: Alex Regan, legislative and policy coordinator for the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), framed the county-level risk succinctly: “Our message has just been essentially do no harm to counties.” Pat Cummings, NYSAC counsel, described negotiations in Albany over how the enacted state budget may be adjusted if the federal government cuts nondefense discretionary spending.

Austin Ponce, regional director for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, told the committee that congressional reconciliation proposals under discussion could include large program reductions to pay for tax and defense policy changes, but he said some House members were reportedly discussing removing automatic FMAP (federal Medicaid matching) cuts and per-capita caps from their package. “Rest assured, I will carry our conversations and today’s meeting back to Senator Gillibrand as well,” Ponce said.

Several speakers urged local officials to document and report concrete local effects. NYSAC representatives advised counties to prepare for midyear budget uncertainty in New York state, noting that Assembly leadership had announced giving the governor some authority to make midyear reductions if needed.

What was not decided: The committee received no formal motions on policy changes related to Medicaid or federal funding. Members discussed the need to monitor both the federal reconciliation process and the final New York enacted budget and to continue advocacy to preserve county funding streams.

Next steps and local direction: Committee chair Shauna (Committee chair) and other members asked staff to keep ongoing communication channels open with the governor’s regional office, NYSAC and federal representatives so the county can submit specific examples of impacts for advocacy. No formal county directives or votes on policy were taken at the meeting.

Meeting housekeeping: The committee approved minutes from the Feb. 5 meeting by voice vote (moved by Deborah Dawson; seconded by Mike Sigler) with a unanimous vote of members present.