With the San Diego County Board of Supervisors still one member short, officials are warning that proposed federal legislation could have far-reaching impacts on the region’s most vulnerable residents.
On Tuesday, voters in South County cast their ballots to fill the District 1 seat left open when Supervisor Nora Vargas resigned in 2024. The new supervisor is expected to cast deciding votes on proposals that have recently stalled in 2-2 splits.
Last week, Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe introduced a motion directing staff to prepare for the possible fallout of federal cuts that would impose new eligibility requirements and funding reductions across Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance.
“H.R.1 represents one of the most aggressive federal disinvestments in core safety net programs in decades,” Montgomery Steppe said during the June 24 meeting. “It could shift hundreds of millions of dollars in cost to the county.”
County department leaders say the effects could be immediate and widespread.
David Estrella, who oversees Housing and Community Development Services, said the county could see up to 40% cuts in housing programs, reducing subsidies for permanent affordable housing and freezing movement on a Section 8 waitlist that already includes more than 11,000 families.
Rick Wanne, director of Self-Sufficiency Services, warned that increased paperwork and new reporting rules could overwhelm caseworkers and cause eligible residents to lose access to programs like Medi-Cal and CalFresh.
“Folks sometimes will not submit their paperwork, they can fall off the program, they lose eligibility, temporarily come back on, reapply,” Wanne said. “These create significant paperwork challenges for our customer recipients, as well as for our staff.”
The board directed staff to return with a detailed analysis by July 22 and a broader funding strategy by the end of September. Options could include using reserve funds, seeking grants, or forming public-private partnerships to soften the blow of any federal changes.
A separate motion to notify CalFresh recipients and community partners about possible service disruptions failed in a tie vote, a result that could change once the District 1 seat is filled.
