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San Jose Spotlight/San Jose Spotlight via Bay City News
Santa Clara County leaders and advocates are calling on state lawmakers to protect the healthcare system from devastating federal cuts as it finalizes its budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
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Latinas Contra Cancer, All Things Disability Equity, Fund Healthcare Not Billionaires, Regional Nurses Professional Association and others held a Friday rally at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where dozens of fake tombstones dotted the lawn. Scrawled phrases such as “Died homeless” and “No prenatal care” called attention to the expected fallout if the Legislature doesn’t move to fund public hospitals and services in light of looming federal spending cuts.
“These are incredibly challenging times,” Celeste Walker, district director for Assemblymember Ash Kalra, whose district encompasses San Jose, said at the rally. “Governments at every level, including the county, state and cities, are being forced to make difficult budget decisions. But we must be clear, we cannot balance our budgets on the back of the most vulnerable people in our communities, including our undocumented neighbors.”
California officials are set to finalize the state’s finances for fiscal year 2026-27 by June 15. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget provides no funding to help public hospitals stave off the billions of dollars lost from Medi-Cal due to H.R. 1, President Donald Trump’s spending bill passed last year.
Newsom’s proposed budget tacks on an additional $231 million in losses to public hospitals this upcoming fiscal year — increasing to $322 million the following year. The State Assembly’s proposal, however, includes one-time funding of $250 million for public hospitals.
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“That is half of our initial ask, but it is the very best offer on the table,” District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said at the rally. “(State officials) do not look into the eyes of residents every day who have been told their coverage has ended and they can’t get asthma inhalers for their children or support for their diabetes — we do that.”
Ellenberg said the county is doing all that it can to mitigate the federal spending cuts, including successfully campaigning for a voter-approved, five-eighths cent sales tax increase last year known as Measure A. It’s expected to bring $330 million in extra revenue per year until it expires in 2031 — but it won’t be enough to make up for the $787 million shortfall in the upcoming budget cycle.
In addition, Newsom’s proposal would introduce cuts to the In-Home Supportive Services program, which provides caregivers for older adults and people with disabilities. The proposal shifts more of the cost burden onto counties and could limit the amount of service hours.
Michele Mashburn, founder of All Things Disability Equity, said these cuts would disrupt her life.
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“Those supportive services make sure I can go to the store, it makes sure that I can get my groceries, it makes sure that I can get my medications, that I can go to my doctor’s appointments, but it also makes sure that I can get dressed and that my stress level stays at a manageable level,” Mashburn told San Jose Spotlight. “But if I lose different supports, my life becomes filled with the time it takes to manage everything else.”
Organizers called on Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas to negotiate a budget that protects healthcare services for the most vulnerable.
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Vanessa Gonzalez, field representative for Rivas, said they appreciate the county’s advocacy. The Assembly’s proposed budget aims to cushion some of the effects of the federal cuts, she said.
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“California cannot backfill every cut, but (our plan) will delay and soften many of the proposed healthcare cuts as we continue to find revenue solutions again,” Gonzalez said at the rally.
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