Contra Costa officials warn of steep local impacts from HR 1 and state budget changes

County officials on Tuesday told the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors that federal and state policy changes embedded in HR 1 and the 2025 state budget will have immediate and long-term fiscal and programmatic consequences for county services.

The board received a high-level briefing from the county administrator's office and legislative staff outlining the expected effects on safety-net programs, including CalFresh (the state's SNAP program) and Medi-Cal (Medicaid). Emlyn Struthers, the county's legislative coordinator, said HR 1 makes historic reductions to national Medicaid and SNAP funding and shifts both benefit and administrative costs toward states and local governments.

"These are policies that have been enacted into law," Struthers said. "We have already lost $24.2 million this year as a direct result of HR 1 and the state budget; those changes grow substantially in future years." She told the board the county anticipates compounding impacts across departments, with projected annual exposures in the hundreds of millions of dollars as…