Blog
March 05, 2025
HOW FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS WILL HURT YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR COMMUNITY IN NEW YORK
Background: Republicans in Congress are currently working with Trump and Musk to cut up to $2.5 trillion in public programs to fund $4.7 to $5.5 trillion in tax cuts for the super-rich and wealthy corporations – they’re taking money from our families to give more tax breaks to billionaires again. Impending federal budget cuts, attacks on federal agencies, and funding “freezes” will hit low-income and working-class New Yorkers hard, every single day.
While Republicans have still not presented a concrete proposal for what they want to cut, below are some highlights from what we know so far.
Medicaid/Affordable Care Act:
- Who’s at risk: [source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities]
- 1 million New Yorkers, including 1.9 million children, rely on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for healthcare; that’s 36% of our state’s population.
- 816,000 seniors
- 597,000 people with disabilities
- 1,901,000 children
- 1,119,000 adults
- Over 2.6 million adults are covered through the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
- 9% of non-elderly adults living in small towns and rural areas in New York are covered by Medicaid.
- Nationally, sixty-four percent of Medicaid recipients work at least part-time, and those who don’t mainly care for family, are disabled or ill, or go to school.
- 1 million New Yorkers, including 1.9 million children, rely on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for healthcare; that’s 36% of our state’s population.
- How much is at risk:
- Medicaid is the state’s largest source of federal funds, so changes to federal policies have an outsized impact on the state’s budget. [source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities]
- If federal matching funds for Medicaid decrease, New York would face a 400% cost increase, requiring $5.5 billion to maintain expansion coverage as it is today. [source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities]
- In New York, the federal government pays 50% of the cost of traditional Medicaid and 90% of the cost of the Medicaid expansion. [source: Kaiser Family Foundation]
- What will happen:
- Republicans are looking to restrict who has access to healthcare by implementing barriers such as work requirements. They also want to cut which services would be covered under Medicaid, including payments to local hospitals, health clinics, and community-wide health programs.
- All of this will result in longer wait times for care, increased costs for care, and a significant reduction in the quality of care provided
- Medicaid funding cuts from the state and federal government will put small-town and rural healthcare systems at serious risk of closure, and making it harder for New Yorkers to get the care they need. [source: Georgetown University Center for Children and Families]
- Cuts could also have a ripple effect, leading to job losses in the healthcare sector and beyond. [source: Kaiser Family Foundation]
- If the state can’t or won’t cover the loss of federal Medicaid funds, the increase in uninsured residents and rising costs of uncompensated care will further strain state and local budgets, creating even larger deficits the state must address. [source: Kaiser Family Foundation]
- Republicans are looking to restrict who has access to healthcare by implementing barriers such as work requirements. They also want to cut which services would be covered under Medicaid, including payments to local hospitals, health clinics, and community-wide health programs.
SNAP:
- Who’s a risk:
- 1 in 6 New Yorkers, 2.9 million people who make up 15% of the state’s population, relied on SNAP during the 2024 federal fiscal year [source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities]
- more than 52% are in families with children
- more than 46% are in families with older adults or disabled
- more than 31% are in working families
- How much is at risk:New York provided $6.5 billion in SNAP federal funds in 2024 [source: New York Governor Hochul’s Office]
- What will happen:
- The GOP wants to make it harder for people to access SNAP benefits including imposing impossible work requirements. This will impact older adults up to the age 65, people living in areas with insufficient jobs, veterans, youth who’ve aged out of foster care, and parents of school-aged children.
- Republicans also want to roll back what’s called “broad-based categorical eligibility,” a process that allows states like New York to enroll more people, and keep them enrolled in SNAP
- The people who can still access SNAP will see their benefits cut, including limits on what SNAP benefits can buy.
- Economic activity will slow: The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that in a weak economy, $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.50 in economic activity. [source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities]
- 1 in 6 New Yorkers, 2.9 million people who make up 15% of the state’s population, relied on SNAP during the 2024 federal fiscal year [source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities]
Federal Rental Assistance and Housing Programs:
- Who’s at risk:[source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities]
- New York is facing both an affordable housing and homelessness crisis. While the median rent has increased by 27% in the past 22 years, wages only increased by 7%
- 2,021,600 people in 951,600 low-income New York households pay more than half their income for rent, often forgoing necessities, like food or medicine, to keep a roof over their heads.
- Federal rental assistance helps struggling seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and working families keep a roof over their heads
- In New York, federal rental assistance helps:
- 1 people in 584,000 New York households to afford modest housing.
- 260,800 of New York’s seniors age in place.
- 322,400 people with disabilities to live independently in New York.
- 527,500 people in families with children in New York avoid homelessness.
- But it’s important to note that federal rental assistance has not kept pace with the need in our state:
- 4 in 10 low-income New Yorkers are experiencing homelessness or pay over half their income for rent. Most don’t receive federal rental assistance due to limited funding.
- In 2024,158,020 people experienced homelessness in New York. Over 130,000 New York school children lived in shelters, on the street, doubled up with other families.
- How much is at risk:New Yorkers relied on $8 billion in federal rental assistance in 2023
- What will happen:
- The GOP is proposing to gut HUD – the Housing and Urban Development Agency – which oversees, among other things, federal rental assistance
- That means all federal funding for low-income and supportive housing will be cut, local plans for affordable and homeless housing will be stopped, and current aid will be slashed or ended.
- New laws and regulations will be implemented to cut off assistance and stop support to individuals and government agencies.
- Rent will go up, evictions will go up, homelessness will go up and repairs will be delayed or never done.
Social Security And Disability Benefits
- Who’s at risk:Over 4 million New Yorkers rely on Social Security and Disability benefits [source: Social Security Administration]
- 7 million retired workers, along with 122,422 spouses and 44,582 children of retirees
- 433,997 disabled workers
- 66,190 children received disability benefits.
- 573,058 New Yorkers received Supplemental Securit Income
- How much is at risk:New Yorkers received about $75 billion for Social Security and SSI [source: Smart Asset]
- $55 billion for retirement
- $7.4 billion for survivors
- $8.5 billion for disability
- $4.2 billion for SSI
- What will happen:
- Elon Musk and his unelected, unappointed DOGE team have taken over access to federal payments systems, giving them access to our personal information,
- While Trump has claimed he won’t cut social security, Musk may freeze payments as he looks into the “fraud” he claims is taking place within the program. [source: Forbes Feb. 18, 2025 article]
- Trump also said on the campaign trail that he’d look into cutting entitlements (which include Social Security payments) [source: CNBC]
Republicans, however, are keen on cutting social security. In September 2024, the Republican Study Committee called for $1.5 trillion in cuts to Social Security benefits over the next 10 years. They also want to would reduce benefits for seniors and raise the retirement age to 69, which would especially hurt low-income retirees. [source: United State Senate Committee on the Budget]