Santa Clara County warns HR1 cuts will shrink Medi‑Cal care; urges voters to back temporary sales tax

Santa Clara County officials told the Palo Alto City Council on Sept. 29 that HR1, a federal law signed July 4, will sharply reduce funding for Medi‑Cal and SNAP and threaten the county's health system unless voters approve a temporary local sales tax measure.

Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga and County Executive James Williams, joined by public health staff including Dr. Sarah Cody, outlined a three‑part county strategy: press the state to protect public hospitals, restructure county services and place a five‑eighths‑cent temporary sales tax (Measure A) on the ballot. Williams described HR1 as “the single largest withdrawal of federal support for social safety net programs in our nation's history.”

The county says the cuts will be substantial and layered: more than $1 billion a year could be removed from local health‑care revenues as HR1 takes effect, while nearly $200 billion was cut nationally from SNAP. Williams told the council that Medi‑Cal currently supplies more than half of Santa Clara Valley Health Care's revenue and that the system — which runs two of the county's three trauma centers, the only comprehensive burn center in the region and a nationally ranked rehabilitation center — would face severe operational strain if funding falls.

Why it matters: The county estimated that one in four Santa Clara County residents relies on Medi‑Cal and about 133,000 residents rely on CalFresh food assistance. In Palo Alto, county officials said roughly…