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County official warns HR 1 cuts could force hospital closures; urges support for local sales tax measure
Summary
Santa Clara County’s deputy county executive told the Monte Sereno City Council that federal cuts in HR 1 will sharply reduce Medi‑Cal and CalFresh funding, projecting large deficits and urging voter consideration of a temporary 0.625‑cent sales tax (Measure A) to protect county hospitals and services.
Casey Halkin, a deputy county executive with Santa Clara County, told the Monte Sereno City Council on Sept. 16 that the federal HR 1 package will sharply cut Medicaid (Medi‑Cal) and SNAP (CalFresh) funding and warned those reductions pose an “emergency” threat to county hospitals and services. “The word that our CEO has been using most often is ‘devastating,’” Halkin said during a presentation to the council.
Halkin said local reliance on Medi‑Cal and CalFresh is substantial — she cited roughly 1 in 4 residents relying on Medi‑Cal and about 130,000 relying on CalFresh in the county — and that coverage losses will shift demand onto county‑run hospitals and so‑called “deep‑end” services such as emergency and trauma care. She told the council the county projects a roughly $513 million deficit next year, a projection that could exceed $1 billion in FY 2027–28 and reach about $1.4 billion annually by FY 2029–30, with roughly $1.3 billion of that directly impacting the county health system.
To blunt those impacts, Halkin described a suite of cost‑control and revenue measures the county is pursuing — efficiency initiatives, fee reviews, hiring freezes and stronger alignment with local health plans — and said the county board placed a temporary 0.625‑cent sales tax measure on the November special election ballot under SB 335 authority. “We really could not avoid devastating service impacts without additional revenue,” she said, explaining the proposed temporary sales tax (referred to in the presentation as Measure A).
Halkin framed the measure as narrowly targeted to preserve hospitals and critical services, noting the county operates four hospitals, two of the three trauma centers in Santa Clara County and a health‑system budget she cited at $4.6 billion. She said the county is coordinating with the state to protect public hospitals but emphasized the state also faces budget constraints.
The presentation prompted council questions about ballot timing and contents; Halkin said the measure will appear on the special election ballot in November, alongside assessor‑related items and a local proposition described in the briefing.
The council did not vote on the county measure; Halkin’s presentation and the council’s public comment period were informational steps that preceded any local action.
