Solano County braces for federal cuts to safety net

FAIRFIELD – Thousands of Solano County residents could lose health insurance and face higher thresholds for programs like food stamps under the federal “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last month, according to a report to the Solano County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The board received a presentation on potential social safety net impacts resulting from H.R. 1, a massive budget bill signed by President Donald Trump on July 4. The state says the bill will greatly reduce access to health care infrastructure, reproductive care and food for millions of Californians, including thousands in Solano County.

Trump’s bill aims to eliminate over $1 trillion in federal spending on safety net programs which low-income people rely on, like Medicaid and food stamps, while imposing work requirements on those receiving aid and by shifting certain federal costs to the states. 

Solano County staff told the board on Tuesday that the bill will reduce federal funding for CalFresh in California by up to $3.7 billion annually, and at least 390,000 people could lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits as the program limits eligibility to “lawfully present noncitizens” such as asylees, refugees and parolees.

Solano County has nearly 55,000 people using CalFresh, out of about 453,000 people,  Assistant County Administrator Debbie Vaughn told the board. The state hasn’t yet received federal guidance about how to handle such modifications, even while facing the news that counties like Solano will have to absorb more cost-sharing for CalFresh. In Solano, that total may come to about $2.2 million in increased costs. 

That’s a big change when, “The county’s role in CalFresh is to administer the program,” Vaughn said. “We do not at this time actually administer the benefit dollar amounts.”

The bill also includes several provisions that will place increased financial pressure on the state’s health and human services programs, and hospitals which handle high numbers of emergency care visits. In 2026, the federal government will increase work requirements for Medicaid eligibility, requiring “able-bodied adults” to prove at least 80 hours per month of work, community service, or qualifying participation in an educational program, with some limited exemptions. 

California, under this bill, is likely to lose a standing 90% federal match for emergency Medicaid services, requiring increased state spending as well as a rollback of services covered under the emergency Medicaid benefit. 

Meanwhile, up to 3.4 million Medi-Cal recipients may lose coverage. The bill ends full-scope federal Medicaid funding for most refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, certain individuals whose deportation is being withheld or individuals who received humanitarian parole starting on Oct. 1, 2026. Approximately 200,000 immigrant Medi-Cal members will only be eligible for emergency and pregnancy-related services, according to the report.

Nearly 147,000 people in Solano County are enrolled in Medi-Cal coverage as of June, Vaughn said. Under the bill, there are many new ways in which access to care will be limited, as thousands of people may be dropped due to new eligibility thresholds. This could lead to people who are less likely to seek out medical care until they are in dire need, putting heavy financial and general strain on already overwhelmed hospital emergency rooms. 

For Solano, this could mean thousands of people lose their eligibility for medical services. Vaughn said that while the total fiscal impacts cannot yet be known, the state estimates that more than 38,000 residents in the county could lose their benefits.

“I’ve spent many times trying to figure out how the state is going to address these challenges, and I don’t have an answer for that,” Vaughn told the board. “I’m just the messenger.”

Several supervisors said they were “taken aback” by the report and the likely financial implications for Solano residents. Supervisor Wanda Williams said that she was frustrated to see how many people may lose the coverage they rely on.

“People might be concerned about homelessness now, but they haven’t seen homelessness like they’re gonna see, once these things go into place and people can’t pay their rent and have to choose to take care of their child, grandmother or themselves,” Williams said. 

Supervisor Mitch Mashburn suggested creating a county education program to keep people aware of and meeting new requirements for benefits under the administration's new rules.

He added that he and several other supervisors met with the CEOs of Kaiser Permanente and NorthBay Health to discuss how to consolidate resources with county services to reduce the strain on those companies’ hospitals, and said he will likely bring back a request next week to form an ad hoc committee on the issue. 

The presentation comes as anxiety has grown in Vallejo around the  effects of federal cuts on affordable housing. The Vallejo Housing Authority said last month that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed to cover a $1 million shortfall to rental assistance programs in the city.

However, HUD hinted at cuts that were on the way, and told the city not to offer any new assistance vouchers, to freeze the current waitlist of about 1,700 people, and stop absorbing vouchers from other jurisdictions. Additionally, Congress is proposing sweeping cuts to HUD’s budget and programs which could leave thousands of Californians without rental assistance.