AdobeStock
The King County Health, Housing, and Human Services Committee received a grim presentation on the potential impacts of federal funding cuts on the region’s public health and natural disaster responses.
In fiscal year 2025, King County is set to receive about $200 million in federal revenue. This does not include federal funding that goes through the state, including Medicaid.
On Tuesday, King County Chief Operating Officer Dwight Dively briefed the King County Health, Housing, and Human Services Committee on three kinds of risks the county is facing with the federal government, including money that is already appropriated being unilaterally stopped.
This includes grants that are already signed and contracts that are already in place.
Dively noted this is what is mostly happening at a federal level currently.
The second risk comes from federal grants that are routinely renewed that now have conditions applied that King County is unable to accept. This is because some of these conditions violate either county ordinances or state law.
Dively provided one example: for a federal grant to be renewed, a county has to accept and comply with any and all executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.
“By not getting that money in a timely way, we are likely going to be in a situation where some critical services are reduced or eliminated and, in some cases, people who work for this government will have to lose their jobs,” Dively said during Tuesday's committee meeting.
The third risk is that the U.S. House budget resolution implies major cuts to domestic discretionary programs such as Medicaid. Dively noted that much of that potentially cut money flows to programs delivered by Seattle-King County Public Health and the Department of Community and Human Services.
Last month, Seattle-King County Public Health saw two of its COVID-19 response grants canceled. Originally this was put at a $20 million loss, but the actual spending impact is $2 million, which was set to be distributed to about 40 nonprofit organizations.
Further blows to the region’s public health network are possible if Congress is able to pass the 12 appropriations bills as part of the federal budget. King County would see “substantial cuts in programs that are domestic discretionary funding, including Medicaid,” according to Dively. This would happen as soon as Oct. 1, meaning the impacts could be felt in the current budget.
Seattle-King County Public Health has a fund balance that is set aside for emergencies. In a situation where the department loses grant funding, the department will explore this fund balance to provide some flexibility to continue programs.
The same can not be said for DCHS, which does not have the same available fund balance. Almost all of its revenue comes from federal, state, or voter-approved sources for specific purposes. If the department loses grant funding, it’s challenging to find any way to backfill for that grant.
Cuts to Medicaid can hinder the region’s six local health centers, including HealthPoint. Company CEO Lisa Yohalem told committee members that 77% of its funding comes from Medicaid, and that cuts to the program would increase the number of uninsured people and the demand at these local health centers.
According to Yohalem, 62,000 of HealthPoint’s patients are covered by Medicaid.
The potential elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency concerns county leaders as well, with U.S Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently stating her intent to eliminate the agency.
According to Dively, about 40% of the King County Emergency Management Department’s staff is fully funded by federal grants. In the case of a natural disaster occurring in King County, FEMA typically picks up 75% of the allowed costs, while the state picks up about 12.5%.
“If we have to pay 100% ... I think it goes without saying I don’t know how we do that,” Dively said.