What Federal Cuts Could Mean For NJ As Budget Vote Looms

NEW JERSEY — With the U.S. House of Representatives set to vote on a budget that includes slashing billions in federal spending, New Jersey officials are focusing on how cuts to Medicaid, food aid and education could affect residents.

Under the proposal, the state could lose $5.2 billion in federal matching funds from Medicaid that could lead to 700,000 people losing their coverage, state Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman warned in a recent memo. Hospitals could also lose federal dollars, Adelman said, as reported by New Jersey Spotlight.

Superintendents and school advocates have also signaled what the loss of $1 billion in federal education funding could mean for Garden State students with disabilities and in less-affluent districts. Cuts to SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) could affect the 848,000 New Jerseyans who rely on the program for food aid, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective.

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have been pitching a plan to cut nearly $2 trillion from the federal budget through 2034. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on their version of the sweeping budget plan this week, as Speaker Mike Johnson is calling for a vote on Tuesday.

The U.S. Senate passed its own spending blueprint on Friday, and the two chambers will now hammer out a final version through a process known as reconciliation. New Jersey Senators Andy Kim and Cory Booker, both Democrats, voted against the budget resolution.

One New Jersey Republican, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, told TIME he was prepared to vote against the bill and even called President Trump to express his opposition to potential Medicaid cuts.

“I told him I very well may not vote for this, and I’m certainly waiting until the last minute to see if some changes can be made, because I’m very unhappy," the South Jersey Congressman told TIME.

“Working class people receive Medicaid as they are working,” Van Drew continued. “This is not just lazy people who are sitting around not doing their job.”

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat representing towns in North Jersey, said she has gotten thousands of call from people expressing worries about how the budget cuts will affect them. Sherrill wrote to Johnson recently, expressing her "deep concern" about the impacts of these proposed cuts.

"As they do for so many across the country, these programs ensure that New Jersey families can stay healthy, put food on the table, and afford basic necessities after they retire," Sherrill said. "These federal programs, which have long enjoyed bipartisan support, have come under fire from both President Trump’s administration and now Republicans in Congress through the upcoming budget reconciliation package."