Stand up for the Central Valley
On July 3, Republican members of Congress turned their backs on the Central Valley’s struggling low-income communities by voting for federal budget cuts that will devastate them along with millions of other Americans. Major cuts to social safety-net programs for food and health care will bring hardship to the Valley communities in Congressional District 22 (CD-22), where most residents rely on Medi-Cal/Medicaid. They stand to lose:
— Health care. Many low-income people will lose Medi-Cal, the health insurance they need to see a doctor or get medicine.
67 percent of people in CD-22 depend on Medi-Cal for their medical care
— Food for the needy. The federal SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) will lose funding to help the lowest-income Americans keep food on the table. Up to 150,000 people in five Central Valley counties will face extreme cuts.
— Care at hospitals in rural areas, such as the Central Valley. In rural areas nationwide, Medicaid spending is expected to decline by more than $900 billion over 10 years, according to an analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation. Strains on hospital finances could also hurt local economies and jobs, as hospitals are the sixth largest employer nationally.
Yet these cuts won’t take effect until AFTER the mid-term elections in November 2026. That’s a delay many people say is a ploy to hide the impact of the cuts — to avoid losing votes for Republicans who passed the budget and are running for re-election.
The primary race for the Valley’s CD-22 seat in Congress has begun, so far including these candidates: incumbent David G. Valadao, Republican, and Democrats Jasmeet Bains and Randy Villegas. The primary for the U.S. House California District 22 is June 2, 2026.
That means the grassroots groups supported by CVM have a huge and essential task to do NOW: to educate their local communities about the impending cuts that threaten their lives. Getting out the facts — helping them to see that voting for people who support their communities — is essential to their very existence.