Congressional Republicans & Trump Push Unpopular Cuts to Healthcare, Housing, and Food—Local GOP Blocks Effort to Warn San Diegans As Over 1 Million San Diegans Face Potential Service Cuts, Lawson-Remer Fights to Sound the Alarm
Acting Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer today called upon the County to send a “Notification of Funding at Risk” to all federally funded program beneficiaries – many of whom may be unaware of threats to these services.
At today’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Lawson-Remer announced that 1.2 million San Diego County residents are in imminent danger of losing healthcare, food, and housing due to proposed budget cuts by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans that will slash these programs and threaten the stability of our region.
Lawson-Remer explained that just as utility providers provide notice of service interruptions, childcare centers warn parents when they are unable to provide services, and doctor’s offices call to tell patients when an appointment must be rescheduled, the government must also follow this same commonsense protocol when services are at risk of termination.
"This is how service disruptions are handled for everyday and emergency situations alike. The impacted person is notified by the service provider of the change ahead of time," said acting Chair Lawson-Remer. "Clearly this is how our government must also inform its constituents. While the scale of these proposed cuts to services may be unprecedented, our government’s response and responsibility to provide notice should be obvious."
At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Lawson-Remer’s plan to direct the County Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to develop a notification strategy to send a “notice of funding at risk” to all federally funded program beneficiaries was blocked by Republican votes, empowering Congressional Republicans, President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to strip food, housing and employment assistance from the 1.2 million people in San Diego County who receive support from at least one federally-funded assistance program:
- 50,000 San Diegans currently receive job training and financial assistance benefits
- 400,000 San Diegans receive food assistance benefits
- Nearly 900,000 people in San Diego County receive healthcare coverage through Medi-Cal
"More than one in three people living in our county rely on federally funded programs to meet their basic needs. Healthcare, housing, food security, and jobs programs are all at imminent risk of termination by the Trump administration’s shocking budget cut proposals," said Lawson-Remer. "Refusing to inform local residents about these unpopular cuts to critical programs will only worsen the impacts of these cuts."