On July 4, President Trump signed the controversial “Big Beautiful Bill” into law. The sweeping 900-page measure, officially known as H.R.1, narrowly passed the House with a 218–214 vote. It includes major cuts to social program funding and expands tax breaks for the wealthy.
In San Diego, local officials are sounding the alarm about what this bill means for county residents who depend on federally funded safety net programs, including food assistance, healthcare, and support for housing and homelessness.
At a July 22 Board of Supervisors meeting, Board Chair Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer and Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe presented a proposal to notify residents receiving government assistance that their benefits might be affected.
“We are going to need to figure out what we are going to do, or we are going to have hundreds of thousands of San Diegans without health care, [and] hundreds of thousands of San Diegans without food,” said Supervisor Chair Lawson-Remer.
San Diego County is in charge of administering these programs. Without federal funding, they stand to lose up to $286 million per year in program support, according to a recent report authored by the county’s chief administrative officer. The 25-page report provides a detailed analysis of where the county can expect to feel impact. Here is a breakdown of some of the most immediate losses.
Local Food Assistance Cuts
Over 400,000 San Diego County residents rely on CalFresh food assistance, including 130,000 children and 100,000 seniors. Roughly 96,000 people are expected to lose benefits due to expanded work requirements, which now apply to adults up to age 64. Exemptions have also been removed for families with children 14 and older, homeless individuals, veterans and former foster youth under 24.
In addition, non-citizens who are not permanent residents are immediately kicked off their benefits, which impacts up to 13,000 individuals.
While the federal government has historically covered the full cost of food assistance, counties like San Diego will now have to pay up to 25% of the cost. That translates to $226 million per year in program costs, plus an estimated $50 million in administrative expenses, as tighter rules trigger both mass disenrollments and a flood of reapplications.
Feeding San Diego warns: “Cuts to SNAP at the federal level will drive more people to seek food assistance. They will burden already overburdened non-profits struggling to keep up with demand, especially when fundraising is down.”
Slashes to Healthcare
Approximately 800,000 residents in San Diego County rely on Medi-Cal for healthcare coverage. New work requirements and eligibility checks under the bill will push thousands of low-income San Diegans off Medi-Cal, especially in vulnerable communities.
Unlike CalFresh benefits, changes to medicaid requirements are not subject to begin for another two years. Here is what they will look like.
Income verification requirements:
Starting in 2027, income verification for Medi-Cal recipients will be required twice a year instead of annually. It is estimated that 130,000 cases in San Diego would require twice annual re-evaluation.
Medicaid Work Requirements:
Also in 2027, able-bodied adults without dependents must either be enrolled in school, or complete up to 80 hours per month of working or volunteer hours. The county believes up to 327,000 current recipients to be impacted.
“The county anticipated the workload impact to conduct these additional eligibility reviews, as well as the increased need to re-enroll individuals whose eligibility, and then reapply, appeal or contact the county for eligibility information, is substantial,” an official impact report from the County Chief Administrative Office states.
The Medicaid changes also heavily reduce care options for non U.S. Citizens.
Eligibility Restrictions for Immigrants:
Starting in October 2026, Medi-Cal will be restricted to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and select immigrant groups. Up to 75,000 individuals in the county are expected to be impacted by this.
Collectively for the region’s healthcare safety net, the bill’s new requirements are projected to increase the number of uninsured, which will lead to a substantial ripple effect–a rise in visits to county facilities, increased disease rates, reduced workforce participation, layoffs within the local healthcare system and a potential rise in homelessness.
Cuts for Housing assistance
The Administration proposes a 44% decrease in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) budget that would have devastating impacts on programs aimed at increasing affordable housing, supplying rental assistance and reducing homelessness.
“The Trump administration’s proposal to gut federal funding for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, which helps lower-income families nationwide pay their monthly rent, will produce catastrophic results that potentially would extend into the broader economy and every community across the country,” said Lisa Jones, CEO of San Diego Housing Commission, in a local op-ed.
Specifically, the bill is projected to reduce funding for Homeless Assistance Grants, eliminate housing assistance for people with HIV/AIDS and shift funding away from competitive grants to a formula-based allocation.
The bill also rescinds remaining funds from the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program, which supports projects in disadvantaged or underserved communities in San Diego.
