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California lawmakers warn sudden federal funding cuts threaten public health and family planning services
Summary
At an Assembly Budget Subcommittee hearing, members flagged recent federal eliminations of pandemic-era public health funding and Title X family planning grants, urging state action to preserve services and noting legal challenges already filed.
Assemblymember Addis, chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health, opened the hearing by raising alarm about recent federal funding changes that she said will hit California public health programs.
"I did wanna touch on, you know, just 2 weeks ago on March 24, without any advanced warning or notice, the federal administration unilaterally eliminated $11,000,000,000 in funding that had been supporting critical public health work across the country," Addis said, and added an estimate that California stood to lose nearly $840 million of that total.
The chair and other members described specific local impacts they say stem from the federal action: reduced support for immunization clinics, laboratory capacity, medical supplies and staffing. Addis listed staff roles she said were affected, including "laboratory staff, microbiologists, epidemiologists, disease investigators, infection prevention nurses, and immunization teams." She also said the federal administration eliminated about $120 million in funding for mental health and substance use disorder initiatives intended to reduce overdose deaths and expand access to medications for opioid use disorder.
Assemblymember Schiavo and others focused on the suspension of Title X family planning grants, which Addis said provide services such as birth control, cancer screening and STI testing for low‑income patients. Addis noted that California's Title X network is the largest in the country, with 50 organizations and 360 health centers that served "over half a million patients last year." She described a local Planned Parenthood affiliate that she said abruptly lost $390,000 overnight, affecting services on the Central Coast.
Members expressed concern about unpredictability from the federal level and thanked Attorney General Bonta for filing legal action. The chair said the committee will continue to monitor impacts and hold hearings connecting federal actions to state budget planning.
Public-health officials and county representatives in the hearing reiterated the immediate operational disruptions they face and urged state backstops for affected programs. Several committee members called for continued state efforts to "backfill" lost federal dollars where feasible.
The hearing did not record any formal state action on the federal cuts; members instead outlined legislative oversight and monitoring steps and acknowledged ongoing legal and administrative responses.
